Tragic hacking incident occurs in Cardano (ADA) – founder releases statement

The Cardano (ADA) network experienced a brief chain split. A transaction failure during ADA delegation triggered a bug in the code that has reportedly existed for years, causing some nodes to switch to a different chain.

However, the network did not go down at any point, the original chain remained “regular”, and there was no need for retrospective edits or central intervention to the ledger.

Founder Charles Hoskinson announced that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was involved in the incident. The development was also met with a sense of humor from the community, with some users commenting on the chain split saying, “I didn’t notice because no one was using it,” and it became a trending topic on social media.

Hoskinson noted Cardano’s unexpected resilience, saying, “Cardano works so fast that we forked it, fixed the problem, and discovered the attacker, all in the same day.” Hoskinson said the attacker was active in the “Fake Fred” Discord group and is believed to have had a personal motive.

The community member who identified himself as the attacker apologized in a lengthy statement. He explained that he started the operation incorrectly as a “personal technical test” and then relied on AI guidance to block all network traffic on the Linux server. His experiments on the mainnet rather than the testnet led to a split of the chain. “I had no malicious intent or financial gain, and I did not sell ADA or take any short positions,” the user said, adding that he was “horrified” to learn the magnitude of the impact and would accept any potential sanctions.

Experts say the incident is considered one of the most difficult challenges facing proof-of-stake networks. On many blockchains, similar attacks required intensive responses, chain resets, or loss of large amounts of funds. Cardano’s automatic recovery within hours and storing past blocks unchanged serves as a prime example of network resilience.

*This is not investment advice.