A Month of History Removed
Privacy-focused blockchain Zano has restarted its network from a block preceding the upgrade that introduced Gateway Addresses. Its team said a vulnerability in that feature allowed unauthorized ZANO and Freedom Dollar tokens to enter circulation. The restart at block 3,833,000 effectively removes roughly a month of chain history, an extraordinary response that affects legitimate activity as well as the assets created through the exploit.
Gateway Addresses were intended to simplify integration for exchanges, bridges and payment services. They let those operators manage incoming funds through an account-style balance instead of tracking separate transaction outputs in the ordinary wallet model. That practical improvement became the source of a serious supply problem, according to the team, which has yet to publish a complete technical account of the failure.
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Rolling the ledger back removes transactions recorded after the selected block from the recovered chain. That includes valid transfers made by users during the affected period, while payments already completed on other blockchains cannot simply be undone by Zano's restart. Miners, stakers, exchanges and other service operators must adopt the recovery update for the network to operate consistently. The team says it is preparing an accounting and a reimbursement process for losses.
The decision puts the project's priorities into focus. Leaving the chain untouched would keep a month of legitimate history but also leave unauthorized supply in circulation. Reverting it seeks to restore the intended supply at a substantial cost to transaction finality and user confidence. How Zano accounts for affected customers, explains the vulnerability and coordinates its operators will define the recovery more than the restart alone.
