Holograph Token Drops 80% After 1 Billion HLG Minted in Hack

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Holograph, a platform for blockchain tokenization, saw its token’s value drop as much as 79.4%. A hacker exploited the system and created 1 billion HLG tokens, worth $14.4 million, according to Etherscan.

Holograph confirmed the hack on June 14 through their X account. They said they fixed the problem and are working with cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze the hacker’s accounts. They also started an investigation and contacted law enforcement.

Holograph Hack: 1 Billion HLG Tokens Minted, Price Drops 80%

The hacker created 1 billion HLG tokens in nine transactions by taking advantage of a smart contract flaw. The first transaction happened on June 13 at 9:47 am UTC, as seen on Etherscan. Seven transactions were in batches of 100 million tokens each.

The exploit made HLG’s price drop quickly. In 10 minutes, HLG’s value started falling. Over nine hours, it fell 79.4%, from $0.014 to a low of $0.0029. The market cap also dropped from nearly $22 million to $4.8 million, according to CoinGecko. HLG has since recovered slightly to $0.008.

Hacker Converts $7.4M HLG Tokens to Tether

At the current price, the 1 billion HLG tokens are now worth $7.4 million. The hacker began converting the minted HLG into stablecoin Tether (USDT) about four hours after the initial exploit.

Matt Casto, a cryptocurrency researcher at CMT Digital, thinks the hacker might be a “rogue dev” who funded Holograph’s operator contract address 26 days ago. Holograph has not confirmed if they know who the hacker is.

Holograph Enhances Security After Major Hack

Holograph works within the Omnichain ecosystem, which allows tokens to move between blockchains while keeping the same contract address. The platform is funded by venture capital from Animoca Brands and Mechanism Capital.

Holograph is working on fixing the exploit and preventing future issues. They are collaborating with exchanges and law enforcement to protect user funds and stop further losses.

The Holograph hack is part of a bigger problem of security breaches in the crypto world. A report from Crystal Intelligence shows that nearly $19 billion in cryptocurrencies have been stolen since the first hack in June 2011.