Paxos Accidentally Minted $300 Trillion of PayPal’s Stablecoin — Then Burned It
Stablecoin issuer Paxos revealed that it erroneously minted $300 trillion price of PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin on Wednesday, solely to reverse the error minutes later by burning the surplus tokens.
Blockchain records visible on Etherscan confirmed the flurry of minting and burning transactions, exposing a uncommon however dramatic “fat-finger” error within the reportedly tightly managed world of stablecoin issuance.
The transactions revealed that the agency had unintentionally added six further zeros throughout minting. Within minutes, Paxos destroyed the incorrectly issued $300 trillion PYUSD and re-minted the correct quantity of $300m as a substitute.
Paxos(@Paxos) unintentionally minted 300T $PYUSD 7 hours in the past — they added six further zeros by mistake!
The error was shortly corrected as they burned the 300T $PYUSD and correctly re-minted 300M $PYUSD as a substitute.https://t.co/RJeWtSnW9R pic.twitter.com/ktQQ88RfHw
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 16, 2025
Stablecoin Issuers Have Faced Similar Minting Mishaps Before
Such errors are usually not uncommon in crypto. Often, token transfers despatched to the improper tackle can’t be reversed. However, stablecoin issuers have extra management. They can step in to appropriate errors, corresponding to by returning or burning tokens created by mistake.
Paxos’s blunder echoes previous business slipups. In 2019, Tether mistakenly issued about $5b in USDT and later burned the overage.
In May 2021, BlockFi unintentionally credited customers with huge quantities of Bitcoin as a substitute of a promotional stablecoin, forcing difficult reversals. And in Dec. 2022, a DeversiFi improve glitch triggered a $23.7m Ethereum gasoline payout, which builders largely recovered with neighborhood assist.
Stablecoins Tighten Grip On Crypto Ecosystem
These incidents present how fragile crypto’s plumbing may be, particularly when automated methods deal with large-scale transactions.
As of mid-October 2025, the stablecoin sector’s market cap stood close to $306.18b, up about 47% 12 months up to now. The development leans closely on main gamers like Tether’s USDT (holding round 59% market share) and Circle’s USDC.
PayPal USD (PYUSD), although smaller, instructions consideration. As of Oct. 2025, its market cap is about $2.32b, matching its token provide of 2.32b, with buying and selling costs tightly anchored close to $0.9997.
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