The end to exploits on OpenSea seems to be nowhere in sight. According to a reppopular marketplace appears to have faced another exploit similar to one that happened in December 2021. Like the previous exploit, OpenSea NFT holders have reportedly lost millions of dollars after some tokens were sold automatically based on their previous listing prices.
Blue-chip collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) and the Cool Cats were the most affected in the latest exploit. A user named jpegdegenlove appears to have taken advantage of it to purchase the NFTs based on their old prices, profiting about 332 Ether ($754,000) after selling them at their current market prices. The affected collectibles include BAYC #9991, BAYC #8924, MAYC #4986.
While OpenSea is yet to address the incident, a Twitter user attributed it to a bug on the platform that fails to cancel previous listings when tokens are transferred from an OpenSea wallet to a different wallet.
The Twitter user also noted that OpenSea charges users high fees for delisting their tokens, which also reduces the floor price of the collectibles. As such, users deem the transfer of their tokens to another wallet a way around the costly delisting fees. However, OpenSea’s API keeps the listing active even after the token transfer.
Meanwhile, OpenSea has been accused of failing to address the exploit after users complained back in December. This incident comes on the heels of allegations of insider trading levelled against its former head of product, Nate Chastain, who was forced to resign after the issue came to light.
OpenSea’s centralisation is also a cause for concern for thousands of NFT enthusiasts. While there have been heightened controversy around a token release, LooksRare— a new platform— recently released a token, airdropping part of its supply to OpenSea users. LooksRare is expected to challenge OpenSea’s monopoly in the market of Ethereum-based NFTs.