Cardano Hit by Rare Chain Split as Faulty Transaction Sparks FBI Probe

Cardano’s blockchain experienced a rare technical disruption on Friday when a malformed staking-delegation transaction triggered an unexpected chain split, exposing an outdated vulnerability in the network’s underlying codebase.

A Faulty Transaction Sparks a Network Partition

According to Intersect’s incident report, a delegation transaction crafted by a staking pool operator caused nodes to disagree on how the data should be processed. While the transaction was technically valid at the protocol level, it exploited a long-standing bug in Cardano’s older software libraries. The result was a temporary fork in the chain, leaving a portion of the network following a different version of history.

Pool operators were instructed to update to the newest node release, allowing the ecosystem to converge again on a single canonical chain. Although the fix resolved the split, concerns have surfaced about transactions that may have been orphaned during the partition and the possibility of small-scale economic losses for affected users.

Controversy Grows as FBI Steps In

The operator behind the faulty transaction – known as Homer J – acknowledged using AI-generated code that unintentionally triggered the fault. His admission has divided the Cardano community: some applauded the event for surfacing hidden issues, while others, including Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, labeled it an attack on the network itself.

Read More:

XRP Takes the Hardest Hit as Crypto Liquidity Crisis Intensifies

Hoskinson revealed that the FBI has opened an investigation, emphasizing that tampering with a blockchain’s operation can be considered a serious cybercrime.

“This isn’t just a prank,” Hoskinson said. “When a disruption affects people’s money and commercial activity, it takes on the scale of an economic attack.”

ADA Price Barely Reacts

Despite the drama, ADA’s market reaction was surprisingly muted. The token slipped only slightly – from about $0.44 to $0.40 – during a period when the entire crypto market was already trending downward due to October’s historic liquidation cascade.

Some users mocked the lack of market impact, with one commenter claiming that “nobody noticed the partition because nobody uses Cardano,” underscoring ongoing debates about network activity and adoption.