A Final Update from the Marketing SIG

 Dear DeFiChain Community,

Following the recent exploit, we believe it is important to provide an honest and comprehensive update on what happened, what has been discussed behind the scenes, and where things currently stand.
This is not an easy announcement to make, but the community deserves transparency and clarity about the situation and the future of DeFiChain.

What happened?
On November 3, 2026, DeFiChain was hit by a critical vulnerability in its account-to-account transfer mechanism.
In simple terms, the blockchain failed to correctly calculate how much DFI should be deducted from the sender's account. Due to an error in how the software handled an arithmetic overflow, it deducted only 1 satoshi (the smallest unit of DFI), while still crediting the recipients with the full amounts of the transaction.
This allowed an attacker to create approximately 92.23 billion DFI out of thin air, without the corresponding funds being deducted from the sender.
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. A second address was subsequently identified holding another approximately 92.23 billion DFI, resulting from a further exploitation of the same vulnerability.
The two identified addresses are:
First exploit address:
https://defiscan.live/address/df1qel8g4g4f66qxr7cw0t03jkz08cj095vup2jhuy
Second exploit address:
https://defiscan.live/address/df1qqtlz4uw9w5s4pupwgucv4shl6atqw7xlz2wn07
This brings the total amount associated with the two exploits to approximately 184.47 billion DFI.
To put this into perspective, this is more than 140 times DeFiChain's intended maximum supply of approximately 1.3 billion DFI.

This is a fundamental failure of the blockchain's accounting mechanism, compromising the integrity of its supply and balances.

What happens next? Is a fix or rollback possible?
Following the incident, members of the development team were contacted to explore possible solutions, including fixing the vulnerability in the node software and potentially rolling back the blockchain to a state before the exploit occurred.
Unfortunately, the feedback received was clear: the developers contacted are no longer willing to invest the time and resources required to undertake this work.
A proper correction would require significant development effort, coordination and agreement across the network.
Given the current state of the project, the limited development resources available and the considerable effort involved, the developers do not consider pursuing such an intervention justified.
Consequently, no corrective node release and no rollback will be pursued by the developers involved in these discussions.
This means that the vulnerability remains unaddressed and the DFI created through the exploits remain part of the blockchain's current state.

As things stand, there is no active initiative among the contributors contacted to mitigate the exploit or restore the integrity of the blockchain.
We believe it is important to be transparent about this rather than create expectations that cannot realistically be fulfilled.

Impact on exchanges
Bitrue was informed about the exploit and asked to take precautionary measures.
Bitrue has since confirmed the suspension of DFI deposits and the DFI/USDT spot trading pair.
We appreciate their prompt response in protecting the exchange and its users.
Further information can be found in Bitrue's official announcement:
https://support.bitrue.com/hc/en-001/articles/63982647822233-Notice-Temporary-Suspension-of-DFI-Spot-Pair-Trading

DTL steps away from DeFiChain
There is another significant development we need to communicate.
Following an internal emergency meeting, the DTL team has made the definitive decision to step away from all DeFiChain-related responsibilities and discontinue investing further time and resources into supporting the chain.
Over the past years, DTL has contributed far beyond its own products and initiatives. Among many other things, the team has invested hundreds of hours in:
• Establishing and developing the SIG framework to support community-driven governance.
• Managing and maintaining the Lightwallet.
• Contributing to marketing, communications and community initiatives.
• Initiating and contributing to numerous DFIPs.
• Developing and maintaining infrastructure, including the DEX frontend on DMC following VanillaSwap's departure.
• Supporting the transition from DeFiChain Labs towards a more community-driven ecosystem.
All of this was done because the team believed in DeFiChain, its potential and the community behind it.
However, this commitment has come at a significant cost to DTL's own development. The team has repeatedly put its own priorities on hold to address issues and support the wider DeFiChain ecosystem. The DUSD situation alone had a substantial impact on its ability to develop and deliver what it originally envisioned.
DTL has therefore decided to refocus its time, energy and resources on its own project and future direction.
The team has explicitly stated that this decision is not a rejection of the community, but a decision to stop sacrificing its own development to compensate for the ongoing challenges surrounding DeFiChain.
We want to acknowledge and sincerely thank the DTL team for everything it has contributed. Its work has been an important part of the ecosystem, often extending far beyond what was visible to the community.

A final thank you
Looking back, it is difficult not to recognise how much has changed over the years.
Many individuals and teams have invested enormous amounts of time, energy and personal resources in trying to build, maintain and improve DeFiChain.
The introduction of the SIG framework represented an attempt to give the project a new, community-driven direction. Many contributors genuinely believed that this transition could provide the foundation for a sustainable future.
Unfortunately, the accumulated challenges, disappointments and consequences of decisions made in the past have taken a heavy toll.
The DUSD situation, the loss of confidence and the repeated need to address fundamental problems have made it increasingly difficult to maintain the momentum and commitment required to move forward.
Perhaps the burden of the past ultimately became too heavy for the community to come together once more when it mattered most.
This is not about assigning blame. Many people have given a great deal to DeFiChain, often without recognition or compensation. We are genuinely grateful for every one of those contributions.
We want to sincerely thank every community member who continued to contribute, support initiatives and fight for the survival of DeFiChain until the very end.
We also want to thank all SIG members who shared their knowledge, invested their time and supported the transition towards a decentralized, community-driven ecosystem.
Not every effort leads to the outcome we hoped for, but that does not make those efforts any less valuable.

Closing words
With this announcement, the Marketing SIG concludes its official communications regarding the current situation of DeFiChain.
We regret that things have reached this point. However, we believe that transparency and honesty are more important than maintaining expectations that can no longer realistically be fulfilled.
Thank you for being part of DeFiChain and for everything you have contributed along the way.
The DeFiChain Marketing SIG