--- title: "Crypto Dev Enters Wrong Command, Destroys Entire Company" description: "A programming error accidentally — and permanently — shut down the entire Solana blockchain-based platform OptiFi, wiping out $661,000 worth of USDC." date: "2022-08-31" modified: "2022-08-31" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/crypto-dev-command-company" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "blockchain" - "decentralized banking" - "stablecoin" - "the digest" --- # Crypto Dev Enters Wrong Command, Destroys Entire Company ![A programming error accidentally — and permanently — shut down the entire Solana blockchain-based platform OptiFi, wiping out $661,000 worth of USDC.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Big Oopsie Staff at decentralized finance platform OptiFi must be having a really bad day. Why? The company says a coding error accidentally — and permanently — shut the entire Solana blockchain-based platform down, wiping out $661,000 worth of a stablecoin called USDC. "We sincerely apologize for a program incident leading to the sudden closure of the OptiFi mainnet program and we could not recover it," the company's [blog post]() on the blunder reads. "We will compensate all users’ funds and prevent it from happening again." ## Close Program It's a massive and expensive oversight — possibly the first of its kind, as [*CoinDesk* points out]() — that perfectly illustrates the risks of carrying out financial transactions without any intermediary authorities. On August 29, the company says one of its developers was trying to update the program on the Solana blockchain and accidentally used a command that shutting the whole thing down in one fell swoop. That means over half a million dollars worth of USDC are now "not recoverable at the moment of writing," according to the blog post. In other words, it's the worst case scenario for a company like OptiFi. "We immediately searched the relevant topic on Solana discord, and also asked a core dev from Solana," the post reads, "but the answers we got are overwhelmingly indicating that we are unable to re-deploy our program to the previous program ID... anymore." ## Don't Rush The company has some words of advice. "Please don't rush like what we did, especially for DeFi projects," the company wrote. In short, this kind of reads like a massive self-own. **READ MORE:** [Solana-Based DeFi Protocol OptiFi Loses $661K in Programming Blunder]() \[*CoinDesk*\] **More on DeFi:** *[Wildly Overconfident Crypto.com Bros Admit That Hackers Stole $30 Million]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()