$17 Million in APE Locked for Staking, Here's How Attackers Target Your Apecoins
The launch of Apecoin (APE) staking payout program is among the most anticipated events for high-profile DeFi and NFT enthusiasts. Here's how exploiters can access the locked funds and steal them.
Stakers' APE tokens are at risk
PeckShield, a top-tier cryptocurrency security provider, explained the scenario that might allow scammers to steal Apecoins (APE) locked in staking pools by their holders.
#PeckShieldAlert If you stake ApeCoin in the NFT pools & sell your NFT you will lose the staked ApeCoin
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) December 6, 2022
Exploiter/Arbitrageur 0x8237 borrowed 82 $ETH from dydx
bought BAYC #6762 & got the staked 6.4k ApeCoin & swapped them for ~20 $ETH
sold BAYC #6762 for ~68 $ETH & repaid 82 ETH https://t.co/5qxFdzBS7t pic.twitter.com/bd41yxiWIv
According to PeckShield, an exploiter managed to purchase an elite Bored Apes Yacht Club non-fungible token, #6762, and access the APE staked by its previous owner.
Since he/she purchased BAYC #6762 with money borrowed from dYdX DeFi (over $102,000) and then immediately repaid the loan, it looks like the stake associated with the same pool was the real target of this masterful attack.
In all, the attacker managed to steal over $25,000 in APE and immediately swapped it to Ethers (ETH).
NFT expert Matt Solomon, Metaverse strategy head at Horizen Labs, highlighted that all marketplaces should keep their users informed of the possibility of such "collateral damage."
$17,000,000 in Apecoin (APE) deposited to staking pools
At the same time, the staking campaign for Apecoin (APE) is gaining traction. As displayed by Nansen data tracking platform, over 4,280,000 APE have been locked in staking pools so far.
Apecoin staking is live and rewards start accruing on Dec 12 💰
— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) December 6, 2022
So far ~4.28M $APE ($17M) has been deposited in the staking pools.
Top depositor @nobody_vault has staked 168K APE ($673K). They are also a whale with 37 BAYC, 25 MAYC, 8 BAKC, and 190 Otherdeed. pic.twitter.com/3L9Ad02HTk
Over $673,000 is locked by top-tier NFT holder Nobody Vault. Also, the campaign has already yielded contributions from high-profile holders of BAYC, Mutant Apes Yacht Club, Otherdeed for Otherside and other popular collections.
Vladislav SopovAs covered by U.Today previously, Chainlink (LINK) staking program also starts today. Many whales aggressively accumulated LINK tokens in order to get periodic rewards.
Some of them purchased over $100 million in LINK in the past 14 days.
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
Dan Burgin