Yuga Lab projects Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Otherside’s Discord servers were compromised by a phishing attack. Attackers seized $256,000 worth of NFT coins.
NFT coin project BAYC, Otherside Discord server hacked
Attackers allegedly stole 145 Ethereum ($256,000) worth of NFT coins. A community admin’s account has been hacked, allowing him to access admin accounts on servers. Next, they linked to a phishing site that encouraged users to link their wallets to access a “special sweepstakes”. The team has been urging users to be careful about this for a while.
The last attack, BAYC’s this far from the first Discord hack of the year. As we covered in the cryptokoin.com news, it has been hit by a series of phishing attacks in the last three months and several NFTs have been stolen in the process.
32 NFTs stolen in phishing attack
Data from blockchain security firm PeckShield shows that 32 NFTs were stolen, including one BAYC, two Mutant Apes, five Otherdeeds and one Bored Ape Kennel Club is reporting. The hacking attack caused one of the biggest grievances of recent times. Previous hacks this year saw about one to two tokens stolen per attack.
Yuga Labs has not yet made an official statement on the subject. BAYC’s floor price has also dropped 2.9% in the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinecko.
Bored Ape becomes the target of attackers
Given its status as the most valuable NFT collection, the project has suffered from several phishing and hacking attempts since its inception. The social media platforms of the project suffered two major attacks in April. More recently, actor and producer Seth Green played Bored Ape. So far, it’s unclear whether Bored Ape owner Yuga has taken any measures to improve security. The company is by far the largest player in the NFT space, with the most valuable collectibles.
OpenSea administrator faces up to 20 years in prison
Another major NFT news was about popular marketplace OpenSea. Nate Chastain, a former executive of OpenSea, is facing up to 20 years in prison after being accused of allegedly using electronic fraud, money laundering and privileged inside information to enrich himself during his time in the leading NFT market.
Details of the case released by the US Department of Justice revealed that he was arrested in New York and appeared in court on June 1, 2022. Reacting to the development, OpenSea said:
When we learned of Nate’s behavior, we launched an investigation and eventually asked him to leave the company. His behavior violated our employee policies and directly contradicted our core values and principles.