Qubic Stops at Tick 85,371,949 With the Wallets Already Empty
The network code held. The seed phrase was typed on an iPhone.
An attacker drained about $1.3 million in QU from 1,404 wallets between 23:42 UTC on October 17 and 01:26 UTC on October 18[1][2].
Qubic said the flaw was in the seeds, not the network’s code: weak, easy-to-guess phrases from legacy Apple devices, Safari and early iOS apps[3]. Client version 4.26.4 carries the fix[4]. Seeds from an iPhone or iPad browser before October 18, Mac Safari that day, or the iOS app before July 2025 are affected[4].
Validators stopped the chain at tick 85,371,949[5]. About 87.1% of the QU never left the network; the 12.9% that hit MEXC was frozen within 1 hour[6].
What to do: if your seed came from an iPhone or iPad browser, Mac Safari, or the iOS app before July 2025, it is on Qubic’s affected list, and client 4.26.4 carries the fix[4].
Who gains, who loses
Receipts
Qubic, a decentralized AI computing network, paused its mainnet on October 18, 2026, after an attacker drained 1,404 user wallets of approximately 2.94 trillion QU tokens worth approximately $1.3 million.
“Qubic, a decentralized AI computing network, paused its mainnet on October 18, 2026, after an attacker drained 1,404 user wallets. The haul came to approximately 2.94 trillion QU tokens, worth approximately $1.3 million at the time.”
The Qubic wallet drain ran from 23:42 UTC on October 17 to 01:26 UTC on October 18, a period of about 1 hour and 44 minutes.
“The attack ran from 23:42 UTC on October 17 to 01:26 UTC on October 18. That is about 1 hour and 44 minutes, enough time to clear out more than a thousand wallets.”
Qubic said the exploit traced back to weak, predictable wallet seeds created on legacy Apple devices, Safari browsers, and early iOS applications, not a bug in the network's code.
“According to Qubic's developers, the exploit was not a bug in the network's code. It traced back to weak, predictable wallet seeds created on legacy Apple devices, Safari browsers, and early iOS applications.”
Qubic pushed out client version 4.26.4 to fix the seed-generation weakness, and the affected seeds include those created in any iPhone or iPad browser before October 18, 2026, in Mac Safari on the same date, and via the Qubic iOS App before July 2025.
“The affected Seeds include those created in any browser on iPhone or iPad before October 18, 2026, those created in Mac Safari on the same date, and those created through the Qubic iOS App before July 2025.”
Qubic's validators stopped the chain at tick 85,371,949, locking the ledger in place after the drain.
“Validators then stopped the chain at tick 85,371,949. A tick is Qubic's unit of network progress, roughly comparable to a block on other chains.”
About 87.1% of the drained QU never left the Qubic network and is now immobilized on-chain, while the remaining 12.9% made it to MEXC, which froze the receiving account within 1 hour.
“The remaining 12.9% made it to MEXC. The exchange froze the receiving account within 1 hour on suspicion that it was linked to the attack.”
Cabal Desk is reporting, written with AI under human oversight. Every bracketed number opens its receipt: the source, the quoted span, the hash. Headlines and characterisations are commentary; the sourced facts are the receipts. Not investment advice. Corrections log. Editorial & legal.