As a researcher with experience in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets, I find the recent Normie (NORMIE) token exploit and the subsequent events quite intriguing. The sudden 99% price drop within three hours of the incident due to a smart contract vulnerability is a stark reminder of the risks involved in this space.


Within a mere three-hour span, the worth of the Normie (NORMIE) token plummeted by an astounding 99% following a smart contract breach. Consequently, its market capitalization dwindled from a substantial $42 million to a paltry $200,000.

After the security breach that led to the theft of a significant portion of funds from the creators of the Base meme coin, they are currently engaging in negotiations with the person responsible to recover approximately 90% of the misappropriated funds.

The Hacker’s Offer

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain was the first to detect the exploit and the hacker’s offer.

The $NORMIE exploiter sent a message to Normie Deployer.
To return 90% of the exploited ETH and the $600 worth of it in my wallet, I plan to use these funds to fairly initiate a new token launch. The objective is to compensate $NORMIE holders.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 26, 2024

As a crypto investor, I received an on-chain message from the hacker who stole my NORMIE tokens on May 26th. In this message, the hacker proposed returning 90% of the stolen tokens back to Normie’s deployer address. The remaining 10% of the tokens were intended to be kept as a bug bounty with no retaliation from my end.

The hacker insisted on utilizing the stolen funds, together with around 600 ETH or roughly $3,900 from our development wallet, to introduce a new token for reimbursing NORMIE holders.

Normie’s team expressed through a new X account that they would need to restart their efforts, saying, “We’ll have to begin anew.” This will occur once they regain control of their primary Twitter account and recover the stolen funds. Sadly, this alternative account was also briefly suspended.

During the negotiation, the hacker remained firm on their conditions, demanding that a new token be launched before any funds were returned. They explained, “The developer wallet earned substantially more than I did during this security breach, and I see no other way to guarantee the proper use of those funds.”

The Exploit’s Aftermath

As a crypto investor, I’d say: “According to Quick Intel’s latest report, approximately 72,000 NORMIE holders have been affected by a blockchain exploit.”

ALERT!
Approximately 72,000 individuals holding the $NORMIE token were affected by smart contract vulnerabilities last night. ShadowShield identified this weakness as early as March.
This is why we exist – to show you what the smart contract really says.
No one deserves to be scammed.
— Quick Intel (@quickintel_ai) May 26, 2024

An anonymous investor, who previously spent $1.16 million to purchase approximately 11.23 million NORMIE tokens during the cryptocurrency’s peak, now confronts a significant loss. The value of their initial investment has dwindled, and it is currently worth less than $150.

As a researcher studying the cryptocurrency market, I’ve analyzed the data from CoinGecko and found that NORMIE experienced a drastic price drop. Within the first hour of an attack on the currency, its price plunged by more than 92%. After another hour and a half, the price had dropped further by nearly 100%, reaching a low of $0.00022. This marked a staggering 98.2% decrease from NORMIE’s all-time high value. Despite a brief surge in price during this period, the downward trend persisted for NORMIE.

I’ve noticed some positive developments with Normie recently. At the moment, it has a market cap of $1,043,837 and its price is sitting at $0.001053 – representing a substantial 57% growth in the last 24 hours.

As a researcher studying the meme coin market on Base in early 2024, I came across NORMIE, which was launched amidst the excitement and frenzy of this market segment. The coin’s value surged, reaching a peak market capitalization of $130 million on April 2, based on data from CoinGecko.

Read More

2024-05-27 23:31