An unfortunate trader has lost over $1 million in digital assets due to a smart contract exploit affecting the Normie memecoin. The trader had invested $1.16 million to purchase 11.23 million Normie (NORMIE) tokens, but the value of his investment plummeted by over 99%, leaving him with just $150. According to a May 26 post by Lookonchain on X (formerly Twitter):
“He spent $1.16M to buy 11.23M $NORMIE at $0.1035 from Mar 25 to Apr 9 and has held it until now without selling it.”
Details of the Normie Exploit
Normie, a Base-native memecoin, suffered a devastating smart contract exploit that wiped out over $41.7 million from its market capitalization in just three hours. The value of Normie dropped by over 96%, with its market cap hitting a low of around $200,000 before starting a slight recovery, according to CoinGecko data.
Lookonchain was the first to flag the exploit in their May 26 post, which highlighted the significant impact on the memecoin’s value and market cap.
Recovery Efforts and Hacker Negotiations
On May 27, the Normie team reportedly agreed to an offer from the hacker to return 90% of the stolen NORMIE tokens. This agreement requires Normie to use the returned funds, along with $2.3 million from the team’s development wallet, to launch a new token to reimburse NORMIE holders. The hacker’s demand was conveyed in a blockchain message, stating:
“The dev wallet made significantly more than I did during this exploit, and I have no other way to ensure that those funds are used appropriately.”
The hacker insisted that the new token launch must occur before they return the stolen funds.
Also Read: North Korean Hackers Target Crypto Firms with ‘Durian’ Malware
Impact on the Normie Community
Following the hacker’s offer, social media platform X was inundated with fake Normie posts falsely claiming to announce the relaunch of the new token. These fraudulent posts aimed to deceive people into clicking on malicious links.
The exploit has affected over 72,000 Normie holders, causing significant financial losses. The smart contract vulnerability was initially detected in March, according to a May 26 post by on-chain analytics firm Quick Intel.
