Zipcoin Shuts Down After Railway Breach, ZC Plunges 88%

| blocktempo.com
Zipcoin (ZC), a meme coin inspired by a story in Vitalik Buterin’s novel, is shutting down after a breach involving cloud deployment platform Railway exposed its codebase, credentials and private keys. After about 12 hours trying to secure its operations, the team said continued trading and development were unsafe and unworkable. Zipcoin plans to give holders six hours to sell, then sell tokens equal to about 2.2% of the total supply held in team wallets and consolidate the funds at 12:00 ET on October 22. The team cited the risk that attackers could access those assets. ZC fell nearly 88% in 24 hours to about $0.00033, with a market capitalisation of roughly $290,000, according to DexScreener. The closure follows an October 15 incident involving token-locking service UNCX. The earlier account said attackers took about 1.1% of the supply of several Ethereum tokens, including ZC, PEPECOIN, EDGEN, X, LO0P and PAAL, and sold them; Zipcoin said it privately bought tokens to cover a shortfall in holdings set aside for future team commitments. Railway separately warned that unauthorised parties may have accessed encrypted environment variables, some reportedly decrypted, and advised users to rotate keys and pause deployments. The events put further selling pressure and security risks in focus for ZC holders. Zipcoin said it has no connection to Vitalik Buterin beyond borrowing the novel’s concept.
Bearish
The impact on ZC is strongly bearish. The announced shutdown removes the project’s operating future, while the six-hour sell window and planned sale of team-held tokens—about 2.2% of total supply—create immediate supply and liquidity risks. The reported 88% daily price decline suggests traders have already reacted sharply, though thin liquidity could amplify further volatility in either direction. In the short term, holders may sell ahead of the team’s planned disposal, increasing downward pressure and widening spreads. Over the longer term, the compromised codebase and exposed credentials undermine confidence that the project can recover; the earlier UNCX-related theft and reported token buyback add to uncertainty about holdings and security. A price rebound could occur through speculative trading, but absent a credible recovery plan, delisting or liquidity deterioration may prolong weakness. These are risks rather than guaranteed outcomes.