A layer-1 blockchain froze for 4 hours to stop a $4.9 million hack, then claimed it was just an upgrade

Injective, a layer-1 blockchain network, produced no new block for nearly four hours during an emergency response to an exploit that researchers traced into core modules.

On Sept.1, the foundation said the blockchain was “upgraded, not halted” and that its consensus, native INJ, and staked assets were never compromised. It described the attack as affecting a small number of ecosystem applications using binary-options markets.

On-chain researcher Earthling Paddy challenged both characterizations, while crediting Injective for containing the exploit and keeping staked funds safe.

The ledger shows block 181027005 at 16:09:59 UTC on Aug. 31 before block production stopped for roughly four hours. Paddy said one earlier block alone took about 37 minutes, while infrastructure provider QuickNode also reported a stalled block height during the incident.

Injective said the accelerated upgrade took longer than expected as validators and ecosystem infrastructure moved to the emergency release. Some validators were temporarily jailed after missing the required upgrade window, while exchanges including Coinbase and Coins.ph temporarily restricted transfers.

Data from CryptoSlate shows INJ trading around $4.80 as of press time, down roughly 3% over the previous 24 hours.