Thread by @CCNDotComNews

A $300 trillion mint. $2.66 in gas fees. 20 minutes to erase it.

The #Paxos PYUSD glitch wasn’t just a typo — it exposed the biggest flaw in stablecoin minting process. 🧵 👇 @FireblocksHQ

1️⃣ The Incident

On Oct 15, 2025, Paxos — the issuer behind PayPal’s stablecoin (PYUSD) — accidentally minted $300 trillion.
That’s over 2.5× global GDP and 100× the total USD supply.

2️⃣ The Cost

It happened on the #Ethereum blockchain.
Total cost: $2.66 in gas fees.
In seconds, the supply exploded — and within 20 minutes, Paxos had to burn all tokens to avoid chaos.

3️⃣ The Root Cause

An internal transfer glitch — likely a decimal or data entry error — slipped through minting controls.
No hack. No exploit. Just a human + system misalignment.

4️⃣ Why It Matters

Even regulated firms like Paxos operate under centralized control, much like CEXs (Binance, Coinbase).
That means a single error in code or process can cascade across entire markets.

5️⃣ Structural Weakness

Crypto promised decentralization, but most stablecoins still rely on:

• Centralized minting systems
• Internal approval processes
• Off-chain collateral checks

When those fail → code isn’t law — humans are.

6️⃣ Past Blunders

Paxos isn’t alone:
💥 Binance once minted $14B in BETH by mistake.
💥 Tether created $5B USDT in a typo.
💥 Bitcoin’s 2010 overflow bug minted 184B BTC.
Centralization ≠ immunity.

7️⃣ The Lesson

Automation makes crypto fast — but it also makes mistakes catastrophic.
The industry needs tiered minting limits, live auditing tools, and cross-check verification before mint events hit the chain.

8️⃣ The Takeaway

$300T was burned in minutes, but the message endures:
🔹 Speed isn’t safety
🔹 Code needs human oversight
🔹 Trust is built on governance, not hype

Read more 👇
ccn.com/education/cryp…