In an unprecedented technical incident, blockchain infrastructure provider Paxos inadvertently created 300 trillion PYUSD stablecoins—the equivalent of $300 quadrillion—before swiftly destroying the erroneously minted tokens. The event occurred on Wednesday, causing temporary confusion among cryptocurrency market participants monitoring blockchain activity.
Paxos, the issuer of PayPal’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, confirmed the transaction was a procedural error that triggered automated safeguards. Within hours, the entire surplus supply was permanently removed from circulation by transferring it to a verified burn address—a standard industry practice for eliminating digital assets.
Blockchain analysts noted that despite the astronomical nominal value, the incident posed no systemic risk to markets since the tokens never entered active trading pools. The company’s rapid response demonstrated established protocols for addressing such anomalies, maintaining the stablecoin’s 1:1 dollar peg throughout the event.
Paxos has since reinforced its minting controls to prevent recurrence, emphasizing its commitment to operational integrity. The swift resolution underscores the maturity of institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure in managing exceptional circumstances while preserving market confidence in stablecoin mechanisms.
