Hackers broke into the PlayDapp gaming platform for $31 million

[Teacher]

An unknown person screwed up 200 million PLA (about $31 million) during the hacking of the PlayDapp gaming blockchain platform. This was reported by cybersecurity specialists from PeckShield.

Hi @playdapp_io, you may want to take a look.

New 200m $PLA tokens were just freshly minted. It seems to be a private key leak and the new minter was just added in the following tx: https://t.co/tyxDksNwSt pic.twitter.com/SkjZsTjtdQ
— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) February 9, 2024

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1755995848209469931

The incident was also noticed by Cyvers Alerts experts.

UPDATE Hey @playdapp_io, $5.9M worth of $PLA has been deposited to @gate_io exchange at https://t.co/781eNOHvxy

You may want to contact them to freeze these assets!#CyversALert https://t.co/SjYq9jaKfW
— Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) February 10, 2024

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1756232598584430684

The attacker added his address as a minter and distributed the stolen tokens to several wallets. Some of them in the amount of $5.9 million, he transferred to the cryptocurrency exchange. Gate.io.

The PlayDapp team confirmed the incident and the release of additional PLA tokens.

We have directly notified all partner exchanges and are collaborating with them to suspend trading and address the unauthorized tokens. We are working to resolve the issue. We will do our best to minimize the impact on PLA holders.
— PlayDapp (@playdapp_io) February 9, 2024

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1756060875583316472

"We are aware of the gravity of the situation and are taking action. We have directly notified all partner exchanges and are working with them to suspend trading in unauthorized tokens. We will do everything possible to minimize the impact on PLA holders," PlayDapp said.

Over the past 24 hours, the PLA token has fallen by 11.8%, according to CoinGecko. At the time of writing, the coin is trading below $0.16.

 

[Teacher]

PlayDapp lost $290 million as a result of two exploits

On February 12, a hacker released 1.59 billion PLA tokens worth $253.9 million at the market price as a result of repeated hacking of the PlayDapp gaming blockchain platform.

ICYMI: #Crypto gaming and #NFT platform PlayDapp loses $290 million worth of tokens in two exploits, hacker minted 1.79 billion $PLA tokens worth over $290 million through the exploits.

More Details https://t.co/i9Vlk2miXc pic.twitter.com/Uth6lACY4T
— BNB Swap (@BNBSwap) February 14, 2024

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1757620189439590653

The first incident occurred on February 9. An unknown person then swiped 200 million PLA ($36.5 million)from an unauthorized wallet. He distributed the assets to several addresses and began laundering them through crypto platforms.

The PlayDapp team sent a message to the attacker via an on-network transaction with an offer to return the stolen funds by February 13 for a reward of $1 million. Otherwise, this amount became a reward for helping to catch him.

"Attempts to negotiate with the hacker were unsuccessful, as he did not show a willingness to help the owners recover losses. Its subsequent attack resulted in an additional 1.59 billion PLA issue," PlayDapp said in a statement.

Specialists of the analytical company Elliptic noted that the attacker also began to launder these funds through various exchanges.

"Before the hacks, the total amount of PLA in circulation was 577 million, so it may be difficult for a hacker to sell 1.8 billion newly issued tokens at a price close to their market value before the hack," they added.

PlayDapp developers spoke about the measures taken after the incidents, which include:

• internal investigation;
• tracking of tokens issued by the hacker;
• contacts with centralized exchanges and DEX.

The platform team suspended the PLA smart contract and announced its intention to migrate for security reasons.

Token quotes have fallen from ~$0.18 to ~$0.15 since February 9 at the time of writing (CoinGecko). Over the past seven days, PLA has fallen in price by almost 15%.