Core DAO Plans Emergency Hard Fork After Validators Drew Excess Rewards
Core DAO is coordinating an emergency hard fork after several validators claimed CORE rewards exceeding the blockchain’s intended issuance. The organization reported the incident is contained and that the "malicious validators" can no longer draw excess rewards. The upcoming hard fork will be a forward upgrade without network rollback or reversal of confirmed transactions. Several exchanges suspended CORE operations amid security concerns.
Incident Overview and Core DAO’s Response
On Monday, Core DAO stated that a small number of validators accrued rewards significantly exceeding the protocol’s intended issuance. The organization confirmed that the issue was limited to reward issuance errors and that user assets remained safe. A technical postmortem is planned to analyze the cause of the incident.
After detecting anomalies, Core DAO announced that the "malicious validators" could no longer extract excess rewards. Consequently, they are initiating an emergency hard fork, which will serve as a forward upgrade without rolling back the network or reversing any previously confirmed transactions.
Cryptocurrency Exchanges’ Actions
Several crypto exchanges have restricted CORE token operations amid the incident. Coinbase paused sends and receives on the Core network, citing security concerns.
South Korean exchanges Bithumb and Coinone suspended deposits and withdrawals, referencing suspected or confirmed security issues.
Bitget also halted CORE deposits and withdrawals, citing wallet maintenance, while LBank suspended deposits due to the project’s requirements.
Unclear Details and Future Expectations
Core DAO has not disclosed the exact volume of excess tokens issued, the duration of the exploit, or whether any of the additional tokens entered circulation.
Details about the vulnerability that allowed validators to draw excess rewards have not been revealed.
The organization promises to publish a technical report soon. Cointelegraph reached out to Core DAO for comments but had not received a response as of publication.
Why it matters
This news is significant for the crypto community as it highlights that even decentralized projects relying on validators can face serious security and governance issues. Excess token issuance disrupts the economic model and may affect user and investor trust. The emergency hard fork without network rollback demonstrates Core DAO's effort to minimize damage while preserving consensus and blockchain integrity. The responses from major exchanges, halting operations, emphasize the gravity of the situation. Publishing a technical postmortem will help the community understand the root causes and prevent similar incidents in the future.
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