Munchables reworks multisig, contracts and dev hiring after $68M theft

Days after nonfungible token (NFT) game Munchables lost and recovered nearly $63 million from a rouge in-house developer, the platform says it has devised a plan to avoid making the same mistake again. 

On March 26, Ethereum-based NFT game Munchables was robbed of over 17,400 Ether (ETH) from a hacker, who was later identified as a Munchables developer. The situation de-escalated shortly after the developer decided to return the stolen funds without demanding a ransom.

While Munchables narrowly escaped what would have been an eye-watering loss, the developer announced it is now implementing a number of changes to “upgrade the security of the project’s funds and smart contracts.”

One of the strategies involves onboarding investment firm Manifold Trading, market maker Selini Capital and blockchain investigator ZachXBT as new multisig signers to ensure the safe return of users’ funds.

Munchables announced that developers from Manifold Trading and Selini Capital will also re-audit and upgrade to new contracts and oversee Munchables’ dev hiring process going forward.

Ethereum infrastructure firm Nethermind is set to further audit the refreshed contracts before Munchables goes live again.

After its relaunch, returning gamers will become eligible for higher rewards in the game. The platform has also pledged to provide financial support to the entities involved in the recovery process. 

Finally, we will send ETH and future MUNCH donations to those who were involved in the recovery process of keeping our users safe.

The company also warned users against interacting with websites to claim a refund as the company will send the refunds directly to their wallets.

Related: Andreessen Horowitz to invest $30M in tech-fueled gaming startups

The month of March saw nearly $100 million in digital assets stolen, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.

In the month alone, the crypto ecosystem witnessed over 30 hacking incidents, which accounted for $187 million in funds lost. On the bright side, 52.8% of the hacked funds were returned.

The top five security incidents in terms of the value lost include the Munchables incident. The Curio hack, the Prisma Finance incident, the NFPrompt hack, and the WOOFi exploit also made it to the list.

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