HLG Down Over 60% as Exploiter Mints 1 Billion New Tokens

The team behind the Holograph (HLG) said they have patched the exploit and is working with centralized exchanges to freeze accounts affiliated with the exploiter

The native token of the Holograph protocol (HLG) plunged as much as 60% on Friday, on-chain data showed, after an exploiter minted 1 billion HLG tokens.

The Holograph team said they have patched the exploit and are working with centralized exchanges to freeze accounts affiliated with the exploiter.

"The team has launched an investigation & is in the process of contacting law enforcement," the protocol posted on its X page.

The Holograph protocol enables a single contract address across all EVM blockchains, which ensures consistent tokenization, seamless interoperability, and secure cross-chain asset transfers, according to a description on its website.

At current market prices, the 1 billion HLG that the exploiter absconded with is worth slightly more than $6.7 million.

On-chain data suggests that the ENS wallet acc01ade.eth was involved in the exploit. A Github page suggests that they are also a contributor to the project.

A X page with the same name describes itself as a "super shadowy coder" based in Paris. The account did not respond to a request for comment by CoinDesk.

CoinDesk is an affiliate of Digital Currency Group, which owns Grayscale, Genesis, BlockFi, CoinDesk and other crypto businesses.

This story was edited to correct the total amount of HLG tokens that were exploited, which is 1 billion, not 1.2 billion.