Initia, a blockchain designed to support interconnected chains, temporarily halted its Layer 1 blockchain and rollups on Friday following a security incident. Co-founder Ezaan Mangalji, known as Zon, revealed that the breach stemmed from a previously unknown "Day 0" bug in the network’s MoveVM implementation on Cosmos SDK. This flaw allowed unauthorized token minting, though it did not affect the native INIT tokens.
The attacker exploited the vulnerability to mint and bridge out approximately $2.7 million worth of AUSD, ETH, and USDC before the chain was paused. Blockchain researcher Spreek estimated that the attacker had already cashed out roughly $2.6 million, with additional funds in transit.
Initia is currently investigating the incident with the help of security teams, validators, and exchanges. The exact amount lost has not yet been confirmed. The network’s native INIT token initially dropped 14% following the exploit but later recovered, ending the day with a 14% gain.
This story is still developing, and more details will be provided as they become available.