The Qubic blockchain is back online after an attack on 18 October in which 1,404 wallets were drained of about 1.3 million dollars. The attacker exploited weak recovery phrases created by older wallet versions that used an inadequate random number generator in Safari, iPhone and iPad browsers. Validators halted the network, 87.1% of the stolen funds stayed trapped and the MEXC exchange froze an account holding the rest. Victims can file compensation claims until 1 May 2027.

What it means: The incident shows that a blockchain can be technically secure while its users still lose money because of the software that creates their keys. The recovery phrase is essentially the wallet key, and if it is generated with predictable randomness, an attacker can reproduce it without needing a password. Importantly, fixing the software does not save old wallets: anyone who created a wallet with the vulnerable version must make a new one and move the funds. The validators' decision to halt the network and return the money protected victims, but it also shows how centrally a network presented as decentralised can operate. For Greek crypto users the practical lessons are simple: recovery phrases only from trusted, up-to-date wallets or hardware devices, never from a web page in the browser, and moving funds at once when such a problem is announced. For companies building wallets, using the operating system's cryptographically secure generators is not optional. Scammers often exploit such incidents by offering fake recovery help.

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