Gala Games, a blockchain-based gaming platform, suffered a major security breach, resulting in the theft and sale of approximately $23 million in GALA tokens.
On May 20, cryptocurrency enthusiasts and observers reported that 5 billion GALA tokens, valued at about $200 million at the time, were minted. However, the responsible wallet was quickly selling the tokens in batches, successfully liquidating a portion of the stolen assets.
Gala Games CEO Eric Schiermeyer confirmed the breach and stated that the company had identified the individual allegedly responsible for the incident. He said that Gala Games took immediate action by collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Department of Justice, and a network of international authorities to resolve the situation.
The incident, described as a “security incident” involving a smart contract, was attributed to internal control failures within Gala Games, allowing the unauthorized sale of 600 million GALA tokens and the burning of 4.4 billion tokens. “We messed up our internal controls. This should not have happened, and we are taking steps to ensure that this does not happen again,” wrote Schiermeyer.
Despite the breach, the Ethereum contract used by Gala Games remained secure. Gala Games asked token holders to migrate to the V2 contract after a $200 million hack that involved the unauthorized minting and sale of 5 billion GALA tokens.