The blockchain gaming project GAMEE experienced a token hack on Monday, resulting in the loss of 600 million GMEE tokens valued at approximately $15.3 million.
The team disclosed in a post on Tuesday that this incident was due to “unauthorized access” to the GMEE token contracts on the Polygon network, which led to the loss of funds.
They also clarified that the exploit exclusively affected proprietary team token reserves and did not impact any assets owned by the community.
The team suspected that the hack took place on Monday at 6:31 pm UTC, involving unauthorized access to the Polygon GMEE deployer address. The stolen tokens were subsequently converted into ether and MATIC.
In the wake of the incident, it seems that the perpetrator of the hack proceeded to trade the compromised tokens on several decentralized exchanges, causing fluctuations in their prices on these platforms.
In response, the GAMEE team took immediate action by securing ownership of the token contracts linked to the breached deployer address and transferring them to a new, secure address to prevent further unauthorized access.
As a precautionary measure, GAMEE has temporarily suspended liquidity provision on decentralized exchanges and has also informed centralized exchanges with GMEE markets to suspend deposits and freeze tokens associated with the hack.
The team intends to provide a more comprehensive update within 48 hours to keep the community informed about the situation.
An administrator on GAMEE’s Discord channel advised users to refrain from interacting with GMEE until further notice, emphasizing the importance of caution during this period of uncertainty.
Token hacks are not slowing down blockchain gaming’s rise
The GAMEE blockchain, backed by Animoca Brands, is specifically designed to create and deploy gaming tokens using smart contracts on platforms like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, or Avalanche. This infrastructure allows games to easily utilize and manage these tokens, aiming to redefine the relationship between players and game developers, making it more equitable and transparent.
The security of blockchain projects has been a topic of ongoing debate, and various attacks in recent years have demonstrated that they are not entirely immune to vulnerabilities.
Notable incidents in the blockchain gaming space include the Ronin Network breach in March 2022, where hackers managed to steal approximately $625 million worth of ether and other tokens, and the Wormhole bridge exploit in February 2022, resulting in the loss of $321 million in wrapped ether (wETH) tokens.
However, despite these security challenges, projections suggest that the blockchain gaming market has the potential to exceed a value of $600 billion by 2030. This indicates the significant growth and potential of blockchain technology in the gaming industry, even in the face of security concerns.
