Hackers steal $290 million in crypto from PlayDapp gaming platform

The recent hacking incident at PlayDapp gaming platform has sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community. The hackers gained unauthorized access to a private key and used it to steal over $290 million worth of PLA tokens, the cryptocurrency used within the PlayDapp ecosystem.

PlayDapp is a blockchain-based platform that facilitates the trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) within games, allowing users to buy, sell, and trade digital assets across various games without intermediaries.

Following the breach, PlayDapp took immediate action to safeguard the PLA assets. The platform transferred all PlayDapp-held tokens to a new secure wallet and offered a $1 million “white hat” reward to the hacker for returning the stolen contracts and assets. However, the hacker did not comply and proceeded to mint a further 1.59 billion PLA tokens, bringing the total amount stolen to $290.4 million.

In response, PlayDapp requested the suspension of all PLA trading on decentralized exchanges and initiated measures to freeze the hacker’s wallets on major exchanges. The platform also announced the suspension of deposits and withdrawals and advised PLA token holders to refrain from performing transactions until the migration to a safer system using the current snapshot.

Cryptocurrency experts have noted that despite the coordinated action of PlayDapp and major exchanges to hinder the dispersion of stolen PLA tokens, the money is already being moved to various accounts and laundered. As a result, the market value of PLA tokens has been impacted, with their price dropping from $0.18 to $0.14 per token. This drop in value will have consequences for legitimate PLA token holders.

Although the attack has not been attributed to any known threat actors, the magnitude of the breach bears similarities to the tactics of the North Korean hacking collective known as the “Lazarus Group.” This group has a history of executing massive breaches against crypto-gaming platforms and cashing out record amounts.

The PlayDapp breach serves as a reminder of the constant threats that cryptocurrency platforms face from malicious actors. Users are advised to remain vigilant against phishing and scams, especially in the aftermath of major security breaches like this one.

It is essential for cryptocurrency platforms to continuously enhance their security measures and for users to exercise caution when engaging in transactions involving digital assets. The incident underscores the need for the industry to continually evolve its security practices to mitigate the risk of such large-scale breaches in the future.