UXLINK Token Plummets 90% Following Hacker’s Creation of Billions of Tokens

The AI-driven Web3 social platform and infrastructure UXLink experienced a drastic decline in its crypto token, plummeting over 90% following the unauthorized minting of billions of tokens by a malicious actor.

On Tuesday, the project reported a breach related to its multisignature wallet. The company stated that a significant quantity of cryptocurrency was being unlawfully transferred to both centralized and decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

UXLink announced it had contacted exchanges to halt suspicious deposits and had informed law enforcement about the incident. In a follow-up, the company confirmed that some funds had been frozen with the assistance of exchanges.

“A significant portion of the stolen assets has already been frozen, and we continue to work closely with exchanges,” UXLink stated.

From multisig breach to mass token minting

Upon confirming the breach, UXLink highlighted that the attacker had initiated the unauthorized token minting process.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield indicated that the hacker initially minted 1 billion UXLINK tokens and cautioned traders against engaging with the crypto asset. PeckShield noted that the attackers later minted an additional 1 billion tokens.

Following these initial actions, the hacker continued to mint UXLINK tokens, with onchain analysts from Hacken estimating that nearly 10 trillion tokens were minted.

Despite the extensive minting, Hacken reported that the attacker exchanged 9.95 trillion tokens for 16 Ether (ETH), valued at approximately $67,000. The overall losses from the incident were estimated to exceed $30 million.

In response to the unauthorized token minting, UXLink publicly contacted centralized exchanges (CEXs) to temporarily halt trading of its token. The company also announced plans to implement a token swap to safeguard its ecosystem.

Price crash and twist in the attack

During the security incident, the UXLINK token experienced a sharp decline, falling 90% from $0.33 to $0.033. At the time of writing, the token had rebounded to $0.11.

Concurrently, onchain analysis firm Lookonchain noted that while the attacker was busy minting tokens, they inadvertently lost over 500 billion UXLINK tokens in a phishing attack.

Related: Crypto.com says report of undisclosed user data leak ‘unfounded’

UXLink asks users to stay alert and follow official channels

In a recent update, the company stated that there were no indications of individual wallets being impacted by the attack. However, UXLink advised users to remain vigilant and rely solely on official communication channels for information.

The company mentioned that it’s working on the token swap plan and will disclose it soon. “Further details and instructions for the token swap will be announced shortly,” UXLink noted.

In its latest announcement, UXLink revealed that it had submitted a new smart contract for a security audit. The new contract is designed to have a fixed supply, ensuring that no additional tokens will be minted.

The company is also preparing a thorough incident report in collaboration with its security partners.