Memecoin NORMIE Plummets 99% After Hack; Attacker Returns Funds for Relaunch

On May 26, the meme token Normie (NORMIE) was hacked, causing its price to drop by 99% and its market capitalization to fall from $41 million to $1.9 million.

Memecoin Normie was attacked, and its price plummeted by more than 99% in one minute, with its market value falling from $40 million to less than $200k. The supply of Normie has been significantly increased, and the attacker used a loophole in the contract’s tax mechanism to…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 26, 2024

According to journalist Colin Wu, the attacker exploited a loophole in the contract’s tax mechanism to conduct an instant “flash loan attack.”

Later, the hacker offered in an on-chain message to return 90% of the stolen funds to the Normie team, on the condition of launching a new project to compensate affected traders.

“The developers’ wallet [of the token] earned significantly more than I did during this exploit. I have no other way to ensure these funds are used properly,” the hacker wrote.

According to on-chain data, the developers’ wallet holds about 823 ETH, valued at approximately $3.23 million.

The team accepted the hacker’s offer, but after publishing their response, they deleted their account on X. This is likely part of preparations for a new project launch. No details about compensations have been released yet.

Despite the hacker’s decision not to keep all the funds, the exchange LBank reported receiving suspicious NORMIE deposits. Representatives of the platform urged the meme token developers to contact them and provide information about the addresses involved.

? We’ve noticed a large number of unusual $NORMIE token deposits, possibly linked to an exploit.

We urge the project team to contact us with details about the addresses involved and potential solutions.

We’ll provide all the support we can to The @NormieBase team. pic.twitter.com/SWMbLaNydf

— LBank.com (@LBank_Exchange) May 26, 2024

Traders’ Losses

Analysts at Lookonchain noted that one NORMIE trader’s loss exceeded $1 million.

Since $NORMIE was exploited, the 11.23M $NORMIE that this trader spent $1.16M to buy is now worth less than $150.

He spent $1.16M to buy 11.23M $NORMIE at $0.1035 from Mar 25 to Apr 9 and has held it until now without selling it.https://t.co/za6YaldkoZ pic.twitter.com/6lJRJsU2mq

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 26, 2024

From March 25 to April 9, the user spent $1.16 million to purchase 11.23 million tokens at an average price of $0.1035, without selling them before the hack.

According to security firm Quick Intel, more than 72,000 Normie holders were affected by the smart contract exploit.

? ALERT!

72,000 $NORMIE holders were hit by smart contract vulnerabilities last night! ShadowShield detected this vulnerability back in MARCH.

This is why we exist — to show you what the smart contract really says.

No one deserves to be scammed. pic.twitter.com/AbtsIPqyji

— Quick Intel (@quickintel_ai) May 26, 2024

Researchers stated that the vulnerability in the token’s smart contract was identified by auditors ShadowShield back in March.

Following the hacker’s proposal to return funds and launch a new project with a distribution for victims, X was flooded with scammers. They are offering users phishing links to “claim an airdrop.”

Earlier, on May 17, the platform for launching meme tokens Pump.fun on Solana accused former employee Jarett Dunn of an exploit causing $1.9 million in damages. Later, British police arrested the alleged perpetrator in London.

On May 21, an unknown individual issued and withdrew 5 billion GALA tokens from the gaming Web3 platform Gala Games, valued at about $210 million. The hacker returned part of the funds a day later.