Crypto gaming platform PlayDapp has been the victim of a series of breaches, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars worth of PLA tokens. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has reported that the breaches have led to the theft of PLA tokens valued at $290 million, based on their market value at the time of the incidents.
Security Crisis At PlayDapp
According to Elliptic, on February 9, an unauthorized wallet managed to “mint” 200 million PLA tokens, worth approximately $36.5 million. This breach was believed to result from a compromise of a private key.
In an attempt to recover the stolen funds, PlayDapp sent a message to the exploiter through an on-chain transaction, offering a $1 million “white hat reward” if the stolen funds were returned by February 13. The message reads:
It will be difficult to move/exchange the stolen funds any further, we are currently in contact with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence companies. If you return all access to the contract and the stolen funds by February 13, we will pay a white hat reward of $1 million; otherwise, we will release the same amount as a bounty and work with law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions to conduct a criminal investigation.
Despite PlayDapp’s efforts, on February 12, the exploiter minted an additional 1.59 billion PLA tokens, valued at approximately $253.9 million based on market prices.
According to Elliptic’s investigation, these newly-minted tokens have already begun to be laundered, as they are being sent to various crypto-asset exchanges and other accounts.
Preventing Crypto Money Laundering
Before the breaches, the total circulating supply of PLA tokens was 577 million. With the exploiter now owning around 1.8 billion newly minted tokens, it may prove difficult to sell them at anything close to their market value before the hacks, which could create a challenge for the exploiter in monetizing their ill-gotten gains.
Elliptic has already flagged the wallets associated with the exploiter in their tools to recover the stolen funds. This enables crypto exchanges and other service providers to identify whether they receive funds associated with the hack.
In light of the recent exploit, the native token PLA of the crypto gaming platform has experienced significant repercussions. PLA’s price has witnessed a decline of 3% within the past 24 hours and a substantial decrease of over 25% over the past 30 days.
The future developments surrounding this situation and the subsequent security measures to address investor concerns are yet to be determined. It remains to be seen how the situation will unfold and what actions will be taken to alleviate investors’ concerns.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com