Crypto wallet Phantom crashes big time! During the airdrop period, prices went haywire, sparking a wave of user claims for compensation

Phantom Wallet experienced a malfunction during the airdrop period, causing errors in the price and balance display. While the assets themselves were safe, it led to transaction losses and a trust crisis.

Unexpected malfunction during the airdrop period: price and balance display abnormal

Popular Solana ecosystem wallet Phantom suffered an unexpected service outage late on Monday, causing multiple token prices and account balances within the platform to display incorrectly. The malfunction occurred during a high-profile airdrop campaign, and the surge in trading demand quickly magnified the problem.

The official statement said the abnormality primarily affected frontend data updates, preventing users from viewing accurate asset figures in real time, and in some cases even showing scenarios such as a sharp price drop or an asset display of drop to zero. Although Phantom emphasized that “user asset safety was not affected,” the incorrect information materially interfered with market behavior.

Users can’t trade and incur losses; community calls for full compensation

During the outage, multiple users reported that they were unable to sell their tokens smoothly, missing opportunities from price fluctuations and even seeing losses on paper. Some users said on community platforms that they lost about $450 in just 1.5 hours—about NT$14k—triggering panic that spread through the community.

Image source: X/@LetitBurn79 Some users on community platforms said they lost about $450 in just 1.5 hours

As more cases of loss surfaced, some users have publicly demanded that Phantom provide a compensation mechanism, arguing that the platform failed to operate reliably during a high-volatility period, which already affected trading decisions.

The incident also sparked market discussion about whether “frontend display errors should be held accountable,” especially in DeFi and self-custody wallet scenarios, where users typically have to bear operational risk themselves, leaving accountability boundaries in a gray area.

Security concerns rise as phishing attacks take advantage

During the service interruption, blockchain security firm PeckShield warned that bad actors may exploit the chaotic state to launch phishing attacks,诱导 users into clicking malicious websites or signing suspicious transactions.

Image source: X/@PeckShieldAlert Blockchain security firm PeckShield warned that bad actors may exploit the chaotic state to launch phishing attacks,诱导 users into clicking malicious websites or signing suspicious transactions

Previous research has indicated that the Phantom wallet has a “address poisoning” risk: attackers confuse users’ addresses by sending fabricated transactions, further inducing users to accidentally transfer assets. This incident once again amplified related security concerns.

Experts remind that when abnormalities occur at the application layer, users should verify asset status through an on-chain explorer, avoiding actions based solely on the wallet’s displayed information.

Technical issues have been fixed, but the trust crisis remains to be seen

Phantom later announced within a few hours that the issue had been resolved, and advised users who still encountered abnormal behavior to contact customer support. The official has not yet disclosed the specific cause, but industry consensus generally believes the incident likely stemmed from data aggregation or delayed API updates, rather than a malfunction of the blockchain itself.

In fact, Phantom has also previously had similar balance display delays, suggesting that even in scenarios involving high-frequency trading and large-scale simultaneous use, the frontend infrastructure still faces bottlenecks.

This incident highlights that while self-custody wallets emphasize asset control, in terms of user experience and system stability they still face challenges similar to those of centralized exchanges. How to strike a balance between decentralization and reliability has become an important issue for the industry’s next steps.

This article has been compiled from information provided by various parties by the Crypto Agent. It is reviewed and edited by 《加密城市》, and is still in the training stage; it may contain logical deviations or informational errors. The content is for reference only and should not be considered investment advice.