Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, officially designated the EGLD/KRW, EGLD/BTC, and EGLD/USDT trading pairs as ‘trading caution markets’ on September 21, 2026. The warning label was issued after MultiversX developers confirmed findings of an unidentified party attempting to exploit their mainnet.
Initial reports on September 19 only noted potential mainnet disruptions. Further investigation later revealed a targeted attack attempting to exploit an atomicity issue at the MultiversX virtual machine (VM) level. An analysis by security firm SlowMist confirmed that the series of exploit attempts triggered invalid on-chain state changes. As of the time of reporting, there has been no official information regarding the extent of financial losses resulting from the vulnerability.
Network Halted for Shadow Fork Testing
Faced with the potential for escalating data corruption, MultiversX developers decided to halt network block progression entirely. The technical team is currently focused on preparing a software patch within a shadow fork test environment - a technique that replicates mainnet conditions without having to apply changes directly to the halted network.
The remediation process requires high certainty. System patches will only be deployed after passing all internal tests. The recovery process then mandates close coordination with validators, exchanges, and various infrastructure providers. Due to this extensive list of technical requirements, the team has not yet released a definitive timeline for when mainnet operations will resume.
Deposits and Withdrawals Suspended
The halt in network block progression forced several parties to make unilateral decisions. Upbit suspended EGLD deposit and withdrawal services starting at 5:47 PM Korea Standard Time (KST) on September 19. The exchange plans to prioritize reopening withdrawals first once the system stabilizes, while deposits will require a separate announcement.
The official warning from the tier-1 exchange further mounted pressure on EGLD’s market standing. Several other exchanges have reportedly taken similar steps by freezing transaction access to safeguard user funds while awaiting the successful deployment of the mainnet fix.
Recovery Burden on Developers
The network shutdown has directly cut off thousands of users from accessing their assets. Now, the certainty of EGLD transactions hinges entirely on simulation results in the shadow fork environment and the speed at which developers can coordinate validators to restart the network. Reported via crypto.news.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
