Ravencoin Crashes 20% as Important Exploit Threatens to Rollback Community – Decrypt

The developer behind the Ravencoin cryptocurrency community stated Tuesday the blockchain might erase a number of days of transactions after attackers exploited a flaw within the software program that secures the community. Consequently, the native token of the community has shed tens of tens of millions in worth over the past a number of hours, crashing 20%.

The challenge disclosed the bug in a community discover posted to X, warning that deposits, withdrawals, and funds made since Friday are vulnerable to reversal.

The vulnerability struck on Aug. 7. Ravencoin, which trades as RVN, runs on proof-of-work, the mining mannequin Bitcoin makes use of and that Ravencoin forked in 2018 to problem tokens. Beneath that system, the model of the chain backed by essentially the most computing energy is the one the community treats as actual.

The flaw broke that rule. “The difficulty triggered invalid blocks to be accepted by weak nodes,” the discover reads. “The primary recognized invalid block appeared at top 4,487,776 on 2026-08-07 15:44:01 UTC.”

Hash energy is the entire computing muscle miners dedicate to securing the chain; whoever controls essentially the most will get to outline which file is actual. On Ravencoin, that management is concentrated. “2Miners and RavenMiner at present management a majority of the community hash fee and have introduced that they’re mining a series which excludes the exploited department from top 4,487,776 onward,” the discover states.

If sufficient miners comply with them, the substitute chain turns into the official one. “If that chain turns into the dominant chain, this may increasingly lead to a deep chain reorganization of roughly three days,” the publish reads.

The developer who revealed the discover tried to restrict the harm and was turned down. “I requested the swimming pools to contemplate a more moderen restoration level to cut back the influence on customers, companies and exchanges. That request was declined.”

Who’s uncovered

The recommendation to exchanges was direct: “My advice to exchanges is evident: briefly droop RVN deposits and withdrawals till the community scenario is resolved and the chain state is steady.” South Korea’s Upbit and the Netherlands’ Bitvavo have already frozen RVN motion.

When it comes to chain performance, the repair entails going again in time, assuming block 4,487,775 because the final legitimate block and restarting every little thing from that time on.

For anybody who moved cash after the flaw, the warning is blunt. “Transactions confirmed after block 4,487,775 must be handled as in danger. Some affected transactions might return to the mempool and be mined once more, however this isn’t assured.” The discover provides that “exchanges shouldn’t assume that reversed deposits or withdrawals will robotically reappear or be confirmed once more.”

It is not the primary time a supposedly immutable ledger has bent. Ethereum’s beacon chain logged its longest reorg in years in 2022, and proof-of-work chains like Ethereum Traditional have absorbed repeated 51% assaults that permit attackers rewrite blocks. Ravencoin drew a wave of Ethereum miners after the 2022 Ethereum merge—the transfer that switched Ethereum’s consensus mechanism from proof of labor to proof of stake. Ravencoin’s hash fee jumped with them—however a number of swimming pools holding the bulk is the price of that focus.

The sell-off landed the second the discover unfold. The Ravencoin/USDT every day chart printed a protracted pink candle, registering a 20.40% loss on the day.

The drop worn out months of range-bound buying and selling between roughly 0.0038 and 0.0045, the place the token had sat since mid-June. The token at present stands at a $46 million market cap, shedding tens of tens of millions in worth within the final a number of hours.

From its late-Could space close to 0.0055, RVN has shed near half its worth.