On November 21, the Cardano blockchain threw a little tantrum.
A malformed transaction, think of it as a digital prank gone wrong, exposed an ancient bug lurking in the system’s software, causing the network to momentarily split into two parallel realities.
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Two competing blockchains
Intersect, Cardano’s governance crew, explained the drama started when someone sent a delegation transaction containing funky data.
Although the protocol gave it a green light, older node versions saw red and threw a fit, refusing to acknowledge the transaction. Updated nodes?
They just shrugged and went about their business. Boom, two competing blockchains were born, one “healthy” and one “poisoned.”
The network sputtered, slowing block production like a marathon runner with a stitch.
No funds were lost
But chaos yields clarity. Staking Pool Operators got a digital wake-up call, upgrade your node software to versions 10.5.2 or 10.5.3 pronto.
The majority complied, and like a well-oiled machine, the blockchain snapped back into harmony. No funds were lost, and all transactions stayed intact. Crisis averted.
Homer J., a known Cardano pool operator and self-described experimentalist publicly admitted on X to firing off the rogue transaction.
He blamed AI-generated commands for his blunder, insisting no harm was meant.
Still, co-founder Charles Hoskinson called foul, the transaction looked suspiciously crafted to poke the old bug. So suspicious, in fact, the FBI got involved, sniffing around like a cyber-sleuth.
The rules are bulletproof?
This little episode shines a brutal spotlight on blockchain reality, legacy code and node fragmentation can unleash weird, costly glitches, even when the rules themselves are bulletproof.
Cardano’s devs pointed out the fix was straightforward but underlined the urgency of keeping the network’s software uniformly updated.
Despite the drama, the swift and coordinated response kept the damage to a minimum, just a digital hiccup in Cardano’s otherwise smooth ride in the proof-of-stake universe.
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Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
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With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
📅 Published: November 24, 2025 • 🕓 Last updated: November 24, 2025
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