On the NFT trade platform LooksRare, a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT that was allegedly stolen from Taiwanese musician Jay Chou sold for 164 ETH ($570,000).
The NFT, BAYC #3738, was taken along with numerous other tokens in a phishing assault, according to the singer. The attack happened at the same time as a hack on the official BAYC discord, though it’s unclear if the two are connected. A Mutant Ape NFT was stolen during the BAYC attack. Since its theft on Friday, the coin has already passed through many hands, according to on-chain statistics. Its most recent selling was for a profit of approximately 50% over BAYC’s floor price.
A bored ape embarks on a journey.
The ape in question had gone through at least two buyers in the hours following its theft, according to a detailed study by blockchain security firm Beosin. The first transaction involved 124 wrapped ETH (WETH), while the second involved 155 WETH. Tornado cash, a prominent crypto mixer, was utilised by the hacker to make the laundered ETH untraceable. The LooksRare account that presently owns the token appears to be a whale with a large collection of Bored Apes. It wasn’t apparent whether those Apes were also stolen goods. Thefts of Bored Apes are not uncommon, as thefts have been documented since the NFT boom in 2021. According to Coinmarketcap.com, the collection is the most valuable in terms of market value, valued at almost 1.2 million ETH.
For crypto heists, this has been a watershed moment
A hacker drained a liquidity pool belonging to popular play-to-earn game (P2E) Axie Infinity (AXS) last week, stealing around $622 million worth of tokens in the largest-ever crypto crime. On Monday, the hacker was seen moving the majority of the stolen tokens into Tornado Cash, where they are likely to be untraceable.Nonetheless, given the attack’s high visibility and the hacker’s use of private, centralised exchanges to fund it, their identity may be traceable in the near future.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
