NFT marketplace, OpenSea, had a flaw, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. This flaw led hackers to buy a minimum of $1 million worth of NFTs. This took place across numerous wallets for far less than the market price.
About NFT
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a type of crypto asset. It keeps track of who owns which digital files on the blockchain. With $4.8 billion in total sales so far in January, OpenSea is the biggest platform for people to exchange their NFTs.
However, a weakness in the marketplace led buyers to purchase some NFTs at rates that had previously been listed. Without the owner being aware that they were still available.
Elliptic’s lead scientist and co-founder, Tom Robinson, remarked that the flaw seems to originate from the ability to re-list an NFT at a different price in the past. This is done without cancelling the earlier listing.
Those old postings are now used to purchase NFTs at previously defined prices. These prices are often far below actual market pricing.
How Did This Happen?
On Monday, for instance, an NFT of a cartoon ape from the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, Bored Ape #9991, was sold for 0.77 ether. This is about $1,747. Usually, such NFTs sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 automatically generated cartoon ape NFTs created by Yuga Labs in the United States.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a set of 10,000 algorithmically generated cartoon ape NFTs made by the U.S.-based company Yuga Labs.
Based on the most recent blockchain information available on OpenSea, about 20 minutes after Bored Ape #9991 was purchased for 0.77 ether, it was resold for 84.2 ether. This is about $189,040, making the reseller a profit of over $187,000.
The rightful owner, who went by the handle “TBALLER.eth” (@T BALLER6) on Twitter, expressed their surprise at the transaction. Furthermore, they state that they did not authorise the trade.
At this point, Elliptic’s Robinson has pinpointed eight NFTs stolen in this manner, from eight separate wallets. He noticed that three different wallets had tried to rob them.
According to Robinson, one individual spent a sum of $133,000 on seven NFTs by abusing the glitch. They then swiftly resold them for $934,000.
Although crypto wallets are typically confidential, he added that the attackers could be found. This is possible if the hackers use an exchange to convert their cryptocurrency to fiat currency.
Final Verdict
The sales volumes and values of some wanted NFTs have seen sky-high growth. As a result celebrities, investors, and top brands have rushed to the market. However, the OpenSea bug may cause some purchasers to pause before making any purchases.
According to elliptic statistics, hackers have stolen $2 billion from clients of decentralized finance (DeFi) since 2020.
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