THE crypto sector suffered one of its biggest security incidents this year after a hacker swiped US$63 million from a blockchain-based game.

The game, Munchables, confirmed the incident in a post on X on Wednesday (Mar 27) and said it would try to halt the transactions.

Blockchain specialists PeckShield indicated the hacker stole 17,400 in Ether tokens – worth about US$63 million at current prices. Public data on crypto transactions backed the estimate.

The exploiter appears to have had a change of heart, however, and returned the funds in full later the same day, according to blockchain data. Munchables declared “all user funds are safe,” in a post on X at around 2.30 pm Singapore time, adding in a separate post that the hacker had not insisted on any conditions.

Munchables is built on Blast, a so-called Layer two that promises more efficient transactions than established blockchains as well as airline-like loyalty points.

Blast’s founder, Tieshun Roquerre, who goes by the pseudonym Pacman, hailed the “incredible lift” required to secure Munchables’ funds after today’s exploit, in a post on X at 2.20 pm Singapore time. He added that “the ex Munchables dev opted to return all funds in the end without any ransom required.”

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Gamers in Munchables try to earn rewards by looking after, or farming, bug-eyed digital creatures. Earlier this week the project said the value of crypto tokens held in the protocol had topped US$80 million.

The security incident triggered a flurry of unsubstantiated speculation that a rogue developer or even North Korean hackers were to blame.

The number of North Korean-linked hacks of crypto platforms hit a record high in 2023, though the actual amount of funds stolen – slightly more than US$1 billion – dropped around 40 per cent, based on data from blockchain sleuths Chainalysis.

The Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking unit, infamously stole around US$600 million from the blockchain underpinning Axie Infinity, once one of the sector’s most popular games.

Security exploits overall cost the digital-asset industry about US$1.8 billion last year, down around 50 per cent from 2022, according to Immunefi, a platform offering bounties to researchers who spot security flaws in crypto software. BLOOMBERG