According to CryptoPotato, the Normie (NORMIE) token experienced a drastic drop in value, plummeting by 99% within three hours due to a smart contract exploit. This incident temporarily reduced its market cap from $42 million to $200,000. The developers of the Base meme coin are currently negotiating with the individual responsible for the exploit to recover 90% of the stolen funds.
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain was the first to detect the exploit and the hacker's offer. The hacker sent a message to Normie Deployer, proposing to return 90% of the exploited ETH on the condition that it, along with the 600 ETH in the developer's wallet, be used to launch a new token to compensate NORMIE holders. The hacker also suggested that the remaining 10% of the stolen NORMIE tokens be kept as a bug bounty without any repercussions.
The Normie team confirmed the need for a token relaunch via a newly established account after their main one was suspended. However, this temporary account was also suspended shortly after. The hacker remained firm on their terms, insisting that a token relaunch must occur before the return of funds.
Quick Intel, a blockchain scam detection tool, reported that the exploit affected 72,000 NORMIE holders. Lookonchain also disclosed that an anonymous trader who had invested $1.16 million to acquire 11.23 million NORMIE tokens during the cryptocurrency's peak is now facing a significant loss. Their initial investment is now worth less than $150.
According to CoinGecko data, NORMIE's price dropped by over 92% within the first hour of the attack, falling further by 99.5% after two and a half hours. Despite a brief price surge, the cryptocurrency continued its descent, hitting rock bottom at $0.00022, representing a 98.2% fall from its all-time high. However, Normie has since shown signs of recovery. At the time of writing, its market cap is $1,043,837, and its price is $0.001053, marking a 57% increase in the last 24 hours. NORMIE was launched amidst the frenzy of meme coin mania on Base in March 2024 and reached a peak market cap of $130 million on April 2, according to CoinGecko data.
