A vulnerability within the Bored Ape Yacht Membership’s (BAYC) airdrop was exploited to steal about $1.5 million in ApeCoin tokens (APE), a analysis report confirmed. APE tokens have been initially distributed to holders of BAYC NFTs this Thursday, earlier than being obtainable to commerce on the open market.
Cybersecurity researcher Check Point Research said the hacker used a technique known as “flash mortgage” to rapidly borrow BAYC NFTs and redeem a lot of tokens.
The principle vulnerability within the airdrop was that BAYC didn’t test how lengthy the NFT holders had owned the asset, Test Level stated. As such, the attacker needed to personal a BAYC NFT for under a short second to assert the token.
The hacker additionally used an NFT vault platform known as NFTX to establish BAYCs that had not been used to assert the airdrop, which they then exploited to assert APE tokens. Test Level stated the attacker bought the APE tokens on the open marketplace for $1.5 million.
A separate report from safety agency CertiK stated the hacker made a revenue of round $800,000.
No snapshot earlier than APE airdrop
BAYC creator Yuga Labs didn’t create a snapshot, ie, a file of all BAYC holders, earlier than the airdrop. This allowed folks to purchase BAYCs in actual time to assert the airdrop.
Knowledge from NFT price floor exhibits that BAYC’s value ground, ie the bottom value at which one can purchase into the undertaking, had surged by almost 20% after the announcement of the airdrop. The value, together with BAYC gross sales, had continued to extend because the airdrop started, peaking at 105.91 ETH (USD 313,938).
APE marks a extremely risky debut
ApeCoin marked massive value swings in its buying and selling debut. The token surged to as a lot as $40, earlier than sinking right down to $6 after the airdrop, and because it started buying and selling on a number of main exchanges. On the time of writing, the token was buying and selling at about $13.2, having misplaced 16% over the previous 24 hours.
The token was revealed earlier this week. About 15% of whole provide was distributed by way of the airdrop.
