Flow Faces Backlash After $3.9M Exploit and Proposed Rollback

Flow Blockchain entered recovery after a December 27 execution-layer exploit allowed an attacker to mint and move assets, draining roughly $3.9 million in FLOW tokens and NFTs within about 30 minutes. Validators halted processing and the Flow Foundation, coordinating with exchanges, bridge operators and partners, proposed a partial chain rollback to remove the unauthorized mints and restore a clean checkpoint. The core protocol and consensus layer were not compromised. Affected contracts have been patched and third-party security firms are auditing. Forensics firm Find Labs traced much of the stolen funds through bridges (Celer, deBridge, Relay, Stargate) to Ethereum and reported laundering attempts via THORChain and Chainflip; freeze requests were sent to exchanges and stablecoin issuers. The rollback plan, developed with ecosystem actors, drew sharp criticism from some partners who said they were not given adequate notice. Critics warn the rollback may create duplicate balances or “unbacked assets,” shifting losses to bridges, custodians and exchanges that processed transactions during the affected window. Dapper Labs said no user balances or its treasury were affected. The incident has already weighed on FLOW price (down substantially since the exploit) and prompted some exchanges to pause Flow trading. Trading implications for crypto traders: expect heightened short-term volatility in FLOW and related bridge tokens, possible liquidity disruptions on Flow-integrated markets, and reputational risk that could slow adoption of consumer-facing apps if recovery actions fail. Key SEO keywords: Flow Blockchain, rollback, $3.9M exploit, FLOW token, bridge hack.