How a hacker stole millions worth of NFTs

In a shocking cyber heist, a peer-to-peer trading platform NFT trader has fallen victim to a sophisticated hack. Millions of dollars worth of high-value non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been stolen.

Among the stolen digital assets are rare tokens from popular collections such as Bored Up and Mutant Up Yacht Club, Women of the World NFTs, Vee Friends and Art Blocks.

A hacker steals valuable NFTs

NFT Trader confirmed the attack, revealing that “legacy smart contracts” were the hackers' entry point. The company advised users to revoke any permissions previously granted to these smart contracts.

The attacks reportedly stopped after an NFT trader updated his contract to fix the retracement vulnerability.

“It was a malicious code execution from a third party to two old modern contracts. However, we have implemented all necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future. For additional security, after completing an agreement on any platform, cancel(.) money or use similar tools and a cold wallet. It is best used without interaction (or signature) with any smart contract.” There is an NFT trader.

In a bold move, the original attacker left a public message on the blockchain. He blamed another user for the NFT exploit and said the attack was “just to pick up leftover garbage.” The hacker offered to return the tokens for ransom – 3 ETH per Bored Ape and 0.6 ETH per Mutant Ape.

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This incident saw a series of confusing actions from the attacker, including returning one bored monkey to the user with an additional 31 ETH and returning some bored monkeys to their owners despite holding ApeCoin rewards.

“I'm a good person, the value of these NFTs is enough for a person to live a free life, but I don't care about that… my technical skills are limited, I can't find all affected NFTs at once. , and it's costing me a lot of energy and time, so … if you want [your NFTs] Come back, then you must pay me the bounty I deserve,” said the hacker.

NFTs trading volume soar

In the backdrop of this security breach, the NFT market has experienced significant activity. Last week's sales increased by 52.81%, collecting $503.35 million.

NFTs on the Bitcoin network came in as the dominant force, collecting $276.79 million and eclipsing Ethereum's $99.67 million.

“The growing interest and investment in NFTs can be partially attributed to the general bull market sentiment in the crypto sphere. Normally, in such market conditions, capital tends to flow into NFTs,” said DappRadar in a recent report.

Read more: Buying Ethereum and NFTs: Which is more profitable?

The most popular sales volume of the week included Ethereum Fidenza #985, which fetched $277K, and a Bitcoin-based NFT of a Van Gogh painting that sold for $263K.