OpenSea reimburses $1.8 million to victims of NFT listing bug

Key Takeaways:

• NFT marketplace OpenSea is contacting and reimbursing users affected by a bug in the platform listing code.
• Malicious users made away with roughly $830,000 in profits.

NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — NFT marketplace OpenSea reimbursed users affected by a bug in the platform’s listing feature that allowed malicious actors to buy users’ NFTs at a fraction of their prices.

The platform has refunded a total of 750 Ether, approximately $1.8 million, for 130 wallet items. The decision follows criticism that OpenSea failed to rectify the loophole in its user interface that led to certain users buying more than $1 million worth of NFTs at a discount.

Blockchain security firm Elliptic noted that ‘at least five attackers who have exploited this loophole to purchase at least twelve NFTs for much less than their market value. These include Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats, and Cyberkongz NFTs.‘

What Was The Issue?

The bug affected users who transferred their listed NFTs to other wallets without canceling the old listing. In detail, if a user lists an NFT for sale and later decides to cancel the listing, the platform charges a significant fee, and the flow price of the collectible also decreases.

However, users often avoid paying the gas by transferring their NFTs back and forth between wallets while removing the listing from OpenSea. Once a user moves the NFT to another wallet, the platform shows the offer is no longer available.

Related: OpenSea bug undervalues NFTs, attacker walks away with nearly $900k profits.

The loophole arises when users move their NFTs back to the original wallet while the sale is still active. So while the item may not show in OpenSea’s listing, it is still active in the platform’s API. It becomes a major issue when a particular NFT has seen a significant rise from its original listing price.

Understandably, several upset users took to Twitter to vent their angst.

OpenSea’s Response To The Issue

Since the public outcry on social media, OpenSea has announced several new features that aim to prevent similar incidents in the future. First, the platform launched a new listings manager, adding a ‘Listings‘ tab to user profiles. In detail, the new feature will help users view their active and inactive listings.

Secondly, OpenSea reduced its default listing duration from six months to one month. As a result, if users transfer their NFT back into their original wallet after a month, the listing will have expired.

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Additionally, OpenSea also added a feature to notify users when they move an actively listed NFT out of their wallet.

The NFT marketplace also incorporated a new feature to warn collectors when they list an item far below its floor price to minimize human error. Furthermore, OpenSea added a feature that would prompt users transferring a listed NFT to another wallet to cancel its listing if they wish to.

However, the platform reminded users that canceling a listing of any kind requires a user signature. As such, OpenSea cannot cancel a listing on behalf of its users.