The IOTA Foundation has finally restarted the network’s Coordinator, after it was taken offline for about 27 days now, over a reported coordinated attack, which resulted in the loss of users’ funds.
The idea of halting the Coordinator was purported to protect users from further attacks. At the same time, the Foundation continued to work with a team of experts to investigate the cause as well as to introduce a possible solution.
After several investigations, the Foundation reported that the attack was related to the (user-facing) Trinity Wallet. Afterward, they began observing security measures, which includes a new version of its Trinity wallet that can avoid such an attack, before it finally restarts the Coordinator.
Today, the Coordinator had finally been restarted after the final phase of the security check on the network was completed. Among other things, the verification required users to migrate to a new, safe account to protect their tokens. The migration period, which started on February 29, lasted for only seven days.
IOTA Co-founder to Reimburse Users From Person Holdings
The Co-founder of IOTA, David Sønstebø, who admitted in an interview with Cointelegraph that a total of 8.52 Ti (Tera Iota) was lost in the attack, promised to repay affected users from his holdings.
“I chose to use my personal holdings (which I haven’t touched in 2 years) to safeguard the IOTA Foundation’s runway,” Sønstebø said.
Meanwhile, the IOTA Foundation said they would continue to work with the FBI, including German, UK, and Maltese police, to track and uncover the attackers. They will actively monitor for any suspicious activity, even as the Coordinator restarts.
IOTA Plans Transition to a Coordinator-free Mainnet
The IOTA is preparing to do away with the Coordinator; through a significant upgrade, it called Coordicide. Notably, the current IOTA Mainnet has been running with a unique node operated by the Foundation known as the Coordinator, which is also considered as the network’s ledger.
Earlier in February, IOTA announced an intermediate update dubbed “Chrysalis,” to optimize the usability of the current mainnet before the main “Coordicide” is completed.
