Hoskinson: Cardano chain split was a deliberate attack by a former stake pool operator, not a bug

first published 2025-11-24T07:48:01Z

A crafted delegation transaction exploited a vulnerability first reported in 2022, causing newer Cardano node software to accept a malformed transaction while older nodes rejected it and generating divergent ledger states. Major exchanges including Coinbase and Upbit temporarily suspended ADA deposits and withdrawals as confirmations slowed and some transactions failed. Cardano teams rolled out emergency patches within three hours and the network regained natural consensus the next day. Block explorers and some DeFi apps displayed inconsistent records during the split. A developer who admitted to performing the test without safeguards resigned and federal law enforcement was notified; an Input Output Global engineer also resigned. ADA fell on the news and then partially recovered in subsequent trading.

AI Analysis

A real exploit (crafted delegation transaction exploiting a 2022-reported vulnerability) produced divergent ledger states across node versions, forced major exchanges to suspend deposits/withdrawals, and required emergency patches within hours; these concrete operational disruptions and exchange halts directly affect short-term trading and price discovery.

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