- In recent days, market transactions have slowed.
- The lack of user awareness of crypto security hygiene is blamed on the CTO.
Activity on OpenSea, the world’s largest marketplace for digital collectibles, is likely to have dropped precipitously following a phishing attack in which traders lost up to $3 million.
According to data provider DappRadar, trading in nonfungible tokens has plummeted in recent days. According to DappRadar, OpenSea’s seven-day trading volume is down 37%.
An unknown hacker stole 254 tokens from OpenSea users by sending a malicious email requesting that their assets be transferred to a new contract. Around 17 traders signed the contract, which effectively served as a blank check, granting the hacker access to all NFTs stored on their wallet.
Some of those assets have since been sold, resulting in a sizable profit for the perpetrator. On Sunday, OpenSea’s CEO, Devin Finzer, estimated the total amount stolen to be $1.7 million, but researchers now estimate it to be between $2 million and $3 million. According to data from blockchain security service PeckShield, among the stolen NFTs were four Bored Apes, three of which were later sold on rival platform LooksRare for a total of $667,000.
According to DappRadar, the number of traders using OpenSea has decreased by 19% in the last seven days, to approximately 227,272.
A request for comment from OpenSea was declined.
According to OpenSea, the attacker’s crypto wallet has been quiet since the theft, with no transaction activity detected in the last 24 hours.
The incident, according to the marketplace’s Chief Technology Officer Nadiv Hollander, demonstrated a need for more awareness among NFT traders about the security issues surrounding off-chain signatures, but the attacker was able to fool their victims due to an ongoing contract migration.
“In our space, education on not sharing seed phrases or submitting unknown transactions has become more widespread.” “However, signing off-chain messages necessitates equal consideration,” Hollander explained.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
