Qubic says 1,404 wallets drained of $1.3m in QU before validators halted network

Key points

• Qubic reported 1,404 wallets drained of roughly 2.94 trillion QU, worth $1.3m, between 23:42 UTC on 17 October and 01:26 UTC on 18 October.
• Qubic attributed the theft to insufficient randomness in 55-character wallet seeds generated on older iPhones, iPads, Macs and versions of its iOS app, fixed in version 4.26.4.

Qubic reported that 1,404 wallets were drained of about 2.94 trillion QU, worth $1.3m, in an overnight theft that ended when the network's validators halted transactions. The transfers ran from 23:42 UTC on 17 October to 01:26 UTC on 18 October, according to the project.

Qubic attributed the losses not to a flaw in the blockchain but to predictable wallet seeds produced by older software. The attacker apparently rebuilt a smaller set of likely 55-character seeds rather than guessing every combination, then targeted wallets holding funds. Affected seeds came from iPhones and iPads used through browsers, Macs running Safari and older versions of Qubic's iOS app. Developers said the problem was fixed in version 4.26.4 and that they secured other vulnerable funds before the attacker reached them.

Most of the stolen tokens are now stuck. Qubic said roughly 87.1% of the QU remained on the network, frozen by the suspension at tick 85,371,949, while 12.9% reached MEXC, which froze the receiving account. QEARN stakes were reportedly unaffected, and Bitget later suspended QUBIC deposits and withdrawals for maintenance. Eastern time on 18 October.

Whether victims are reimbursed now rests with Qubic's Computor quorum.

What to watch: Qubic's Computor quorum is considering whether and how to reimburse victims of the theft.

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