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Normie Token Collapses 99% After Smart Contract Exploit
The value of the Normie token (NORMIE) plummeted 99% in the space of three hours after falling victim to a smart contract exploit, which temporarily lowered its market capitalization from $42 million to $200,000.
Following the exploit, the developers of the Base meme coin are in discussions with the individual responsible for the incident to recover 90% of the stolen funds.
The hacker’s offer
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain was the first to spot the hacker’s exploit and offering.
In an on-chain message to Normie’s distributor address on May 26, the hacker offered return 90% of the stolen NORMIE tokens, with the remaining 10% retained as a non-retaliatory bug reward.
The hacker also requested that the stolen funds, along with the 600 ETH worth approximately $3,900 in the team’s development wallet, be used to launch a new token to refund NORMIE holders.
“We will have to relaunch, yes,” said the Normie team via a newly created X account following the suspension of the main one. “This will happen after we get our main Twitter account back and get the funds from the exploiter,” Normie added. However, the temporary account was also suspended shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, the hacker has not compromised on their strict conditions, insisting that the token’s relaunch must precede the return of the funds. “The developers’ wallet earned significantly more than I did during this exploit, and I have no other way to ensure those funds are used appropriately,” they said. declared in another on-chain message.
The consequences of the exploit
Quick Intel, a blockchain scam detection tool, reported that the exploit affected 72,000 NORMIE holders.
Also Lookonchain revealed that an anonymous trader who had invested $1.16 million to acquire 11.23 million NORMIE tokens during the cryptocurrency’s peak is now facing a substantial loss. Their initial investment of $1.16 million, which they have held until now without selling, is now worth less than $150.
According to CoinGecko data, the price of NORMIE plummeted by more than 92% in the first hour of the attack, falling further by 99.5% after two and a half hours. Despite a brief price rise, the cryptocurrency continued its decline, bottoming at $0.00022, a decline of 98.2% from its all-time high.
However, Normie has since shown signs of recovery. At the time of writing, its market capitalization is $1,043,837 and its price is $0.001053, marking a 57% increase in the last 24 hours.
NORMIE was launched amid the meme coin mania frenzy on Base in March 2024 and reached a peak market capitalization of $130 million on April 2, according to data from CoinGecko.