Millions of dollars' worth of Ether, the digital token of the Ethereum (ETH/USD) blockchain, could be frozen on a cryptocurrency wallet because one individual "accidentally" triggered a bug, CNBC reported.
Parity, a cryptocurrency wallet provider, said in a security alert Tuesday that it had discovered a "vulnerability" in its wallet that allowed users to change code and become the owners of wallets that didn't belong to them.
The company said that one person "suicided" the wallet, deleting its code and freezing all Ether tokens contained within.
"We are analyzing the situation and will release an update with further details shortly," Parity said in the security alert.
Over 1 million ether (around $278,359,059 US) is the total impact of @ParityTech based on https://t.co/WL38fyqaMU https://t.co/bJmq6nFerj
— Paddy [blockchain] (@paddyucl) November 7, 2017
Parity revealed that, while fixing a bug that let hackers steal $32m out of few multi-signature wallets in July, it had inadvertently introduced a new flaw into its systems that allowed one user to become the sole owner of every single multi-signature wallet.
Parity has not disclosed the amount of the currency frozen, but French hacker Matt Suiche said in a blog post Tuesday that the code wipeout means that more than $280 million worth has been locked.