Blockchain Karaoke Platform SOMESING Hacked for $11 Million

Unknown attackers targeted the South Korean blockchain-based social karaoke platform SOMESING, extracting 730 million SSX tokens valued at approximately $11.6 million at the time of the breach.

According to a statement, the stolen amount included 504 million undistributed SSX tokens, which were intended to be gradually released into circulation by the end of 2025. The remaining 226 million tokens were held by the project’s fund and were actively traded on the market.

“The incident is not linked to any team members. Given the methods used, it is assumed that the attack was carried out by professional hackers specializing in virtual asset breaches,” SOMESING emphasized.

Upon discovering the breach, the team contacted law enforcement and took several measures:

• sent requests to local and foreign exchanges to suspend transactions involving SSX;
• began tracking the movement of the stolen assets in collaboration with cybersecurity firm Uppsala Security and the developers of the underlying blockchain, Klaytn Foundation.

“We would like to convey a message to the perpetrator or group responsible for the hack. We plan to request an investigation into the breach by domestic and international agencies, including Interpol, and strongly urge the voluntary return of the stolen funds,” the team stated.

The platform allows users to upload karaoke recordings to the blockchain for rewards in SSX. Payments are generated from user donations to performers. Performers receive 60% of the collected amount, 20% is allocated to SOMESING, and the remainder is used for copyright fees and community maintenance costs.

SOMESING noted that as a result of the incident, the market supply of SSX increased unexpectedly by 489 million tokens as of the end of January. Over the past day, the asset has lost 14.5% in value and is trading at around $0.014 (CoinGecko).

The primary market for SSX is Upbit. In response to the blockchain project’s request, the centralized exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals of the tokens.

In 2023, the crypto industry lost $2.61 billion due to hacking attacks and fraud, according to PeckShield.

Experts at Immunefi reported a lower loss of $1.8 billion.