Phantom issues emergency update after iOS app blocks users without wallets

Phantom, a decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet based on Solana, has released an urgent update for its iOS app. This follows reports that a bug unexpectedly locked some users out of their accounts.

The bug prevented several iOS customers from accessing their wallets unless they had backed up their recovery phrases.

Users locked out of their wallets

“We are aware that a small number of iOS users are experiencing app resets,” Phantom announced in a Nov. 13 post on X. “If you happen to be among them, you can restore your wallet using your phrase of recovery”.

The team behind the wallet confirmed that they have released a new iOS update to prevent more people from facing the same issue. They also advised all users to back up their recovery phrases securely and apologized for the situation.

Reports of the issue first surfaced on social media earlier in the day, as some iOS users reported being unexpectedly logged out and losing access to their wallets after installing the ‘latest app update.

One person asked Phantom why his app had reset overnight and removed all his wallets. Another noted: “Ghost wipes people’s wallets with the latest update… Will burn a lot of tokens from people who forgot to back up their keys.”

The problem appeared to affect those who hadn’t backed up their initial phrases, an important recovery step in non-custodial wallets like Phantom. Crypto trader ACE warned others at X not to upgrade their wallets without first saving their seed phrases.

Because the service works as a non-custodial wallet, the platform cannot recover a user’s funds if they lose their passphrase or fail to back it up. Graphite Protocol founder Tom highlighted the situation, reporting that the recent “ghost update” had caused wallet holders to face significant losses.

He also questioned whether responsibility rested solely on those who failed to save their private keys, or whether Phantom should consider compensating those affected by the update.

More incidences

This incident adds to the list of technical issues that Phantom users have been facing over the past few months. In late October, customers complained about balance display errors in the app and browser extension, and Phantom acknowledged a “runtime incident.”

The company then advised users to ignore simulation errors and proceed with transactions via decentralized applications (dApps) if urgently needed. Phantom resolved the issue shortly after, updating users that services were back to normal.

Earlier this year on February 3, the team also reported delays with token balance updates. Additionally, in a separate incident on August 15, a temporary bug affected users’ ability to accurately view account balances. However, the wallet quickly resolved both situations.

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