Crypto gaming platform PlayDapp has fallen victim to a major exploit resulting in the theft of $290 million worth of PLA tokens. 

The incident was first brought to light by blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, which uncovered the unauthorized minting of 200 million PLA tokens, valued at $36.5 million at the time.

An unauthorized wallet was used to mint PLA tokens, exposing vulnerabilities in the PlayDapp system. The hacker reportedly leveraged a compromised private key to gain access to the platform's security measures.

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PlayDapp's Desperate Attempts for Recovery

In a desperate bid to reclaim the stolen funds, PlayDapp initially offered a $1 million "white hat" reward for the return of the tokens. However, as the hacker persisted, PlayDapp escalated its offer to a $1 million bounty by February 13th, accompanied by threats of collaboration with law enforcement.

The hacker, undeterred by PlayDapp's efforts, minted a further 1.59 billion PLA tokens, amounting to $253.9 million. Later, the hacker attempted to launder these illicitly minted tokens through various crypto exchanges.

However, the massive influx of newly minted tokens presents a significant challenge for the hacker. With the total supply of PLA before the exploit standing at 577 million, successfully offloading such a vast quantity in the market remains highly improbable.

PlayDapp's Response

Following the breach, PlayDapp has halted its smart contract to prevent further exploitation. 

As per further reports, collaboration is underway with crypto exchanges, blockchain forensic firms, and law enforcement to track the stolen tokens and identify the perpetrator. 

Discussions are also in progress regarding potential recovery solutions, including token migration. 

In response to the hack, PLA's value plummeted from $0.1823 to $0.1385, a more than 24% decline. Although the current value shows a slight rise from a low of $0.1488, at the time of writing.