Hackers Exploit Matt Furie’s NFT Projects with Over $1 Million Loss

In mid-June 2025, NFT projects associated with Pepe creator Matt Furie suffered a cyberattack, attributed to mis-hired North Korean IT personnel. These hackers took contract authority of Furie’s projects, resulting in over $1 million losses.

Analyst ZachXBT highlighted the attack stemmed from North Korean IT personnel mis-hired as developers, affecting projects like Replicandy and Peplicator. Floor prices for these NFTs dropped to zero, demonstrating potential vulnerabilities in freelance contracting.

NFT Cybersecurity Breach: Over $1 Million in Losses Reported

ZachXBT publicly identified the involvement of North Korean IT workers in the attack. The hackers exploited their positions to assume control of the NFT contracts, directly impacting Furie’s ChainSaw platform. Unauthorized minting crashed NFT collection floor prices. The estimated loss surpassed $1 million.

NFT prices plummeted as a result of this breach. The attack primarily affected Ethereum and NFT assets linked to Matt Furie’s projects, with ChainSaw-related losses approximating $310,000. This incident has reignited discussions on stricter security measures and better vetting processes for hiring within the tech industry.

“Multiple projects tied to Pepe creator Matt Furie & ChainSaw as well as another project Favrr were exploited in the past week which resulted in ~$1M stolen. My analysis links both attacks to the same cluster of DPRK IT workers who were likely accidentally hired as developers.” — ZachXBT, On-chain Investigator, Source

Historical Context, Price Data, and Expert Analysis

Did you know? North Korean hacking collectives, such as the Lazarus Group, have a history of executing cyberattacks on crypto firms, including the 2022 Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge exploit, demonstrating ongoing threats to digital asset security.

According to CoinMarketCap, Ethereum’s price is $2,421.73, with a market cap of approximately $292 billion. ETH has shown volatility with a 0.74% decline over 24 hours, a 7-day loss of 0.22%, but a notable growth of over 30% in the past 60 and 90 days.

The Coincu research team emphasizes the necessity of implementing advanced security protocols and enhancing developmental vetting processes. Such measures can mitigate risks associated with cyber threats and protect the complex infrastructure of digital assets and NFTs.