VeVe Closes NFT Marketplace After In-App Token Exploit

VeVe, an NFT marketplace with licensed digital collectibles, faced an exploit on Tuesday which resulted in millions of in-app tokens, called gems, being acquired illegally. Veve is popular for becoming the official launch partner of mainstream brands such as Coca-Cola, Pixar, and Marvel.

On Wednesday, in an official tweet, VeVe had acknowledged the exploit on its platform and said that the attackers managed to illegitimately acquire a “large amount” of gems. Pending the completion of the investigation, the app-based NFT platform has shut down the marketplace as well as gem purchases.

The platform also restricted several user accounts that were trying to purchase gems from fraudulent accounts.

Gems are VeVe’s in-app tokens that users can exchange for collectibles during drops in the market. Early reports show that the cyber criminals behind the exploit managed to mint millions of gems without having to pay for them. They were able to do this by exploiting a bug in the platform’s buying mechanism.

The gem exploits on VeVe have resulted in a sharp decline in the prices of NFTs listed on the platform. Users experienced up to an 80% price plunge in the value of their NFTs.

One Twitter user shared a timeline of events of the exploit. According to the user, VeVe first registered the largest 3-day buying of the in-app token gems. This milestone was then followed by a crash in the price of the token by half, falling from 0.5 to 0.25. The marketplace then went into maintenance.