Paxos Accidentally Mints $300 Trillion in PayPal USD and Burns It All Within 22 Minutes

Paxos briefly minted $300T in PYUSD due to a technical glitch, then burned it within 22 minutes.

The error highlighted blockchain’s transparency, issues are visible, traceable, and swiftly fixed.

Experts say the event shows blockchain’s oversight strength versus slower traditional systems.

A technical error at Paxos briefly created $300 trillion worth of PayPal USD (PYUSD) on Wednesday, shocking crypto watchers worldwide. Within minutes, the excess tokens were destroyed. The incident demonstrated how blockchain’s open ledger can expose mistakes quickly and restore order before financial damage occurs.

Error Exposes Blockchain Transparency

Paxos confirmed that it mistakenly minted $300 trillion in PYUSD on October 15 at 7:12 p.m. UTC, calling it an internal technical issue. Blockchain data shows the excess tokens were fully burned just 22 minutes later. The issuer assured that customer funds were never at risk.

Kate Cooper, CEO of OKX Australia, said the episode shows blockchain’s transparency in action. “Mistakes happen in every financial system, the difference with blockchain is that they’re visible, traceable, and quickly correctable,” she said. Cooper, a former bank executive, added that visibility in blockchain builds trust and modernizes financial oversight.

Ryne Saxe, CEO of stablecoin platform Eco, also pointed to blockchain’s accountability. He said such real-time transparency and coordination are “unheard of” in central banking systems, where similar issues often remain hidden for months before discovery.

Traditional Errors and Industry Lessons

Similar errors in traditional finance have taken much longer to detect. In April 2024, Citigroup mistakenly credited a client with $81 trillion, taking hours to fix and months to report. Deutsche Bank also sent €28 billion in error in 2015, showing that manual systems remain prone to oversight delays.

Shahar Madar, vice president at Fireblocks, said the Paxos case is still a “preventable mistake” and stablecoin issuers must strengthen operational controls. He noted that minting, transferring, and burning tokens are sensitive actions that require strict security measures and clear governance.

Paxos clarified that the issue was not caused by a security breach and confirmed that all collateral remains intact. The firm’s quick correction reinforced blockchain’s capacity for transparency and immediate accountability in digital asset management.

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