Normie, a Meme Coin on Ethereum’s Layer 2 Network Base, Plummets 99% After Exploit

The project's team acknowledged the breach and agreed to the attacker's proposal to return the stolen assets.

A severe exploit on Ethereum’s Layer 2 network Base has drastically impacted the meme coin Normie, causing its token value to plummet by 99%.

The project’s team has acknowledged the breach and agreed to the attacker’s proposal to return the stolen assets.

Normie's Market Cap Drops Significantly

According to crypto sleuth Lookonchain, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in Normie's contract tax mechanism. They executed a flash loan attack that drastically increased the meme coin's token supply.

This exploit led to a 99% drop in the token's value and a reduction in market capitalization from approximately $41 million to around $1.3 million.

The impact on traders was highlighted by Lookonchain. One trader's $1.16 million investment in NORMIE is now worth less than $150. Several token holders expressed their substantial losses on the project's official Telegram channel.

Crypto exchange LBank reported an influx of Normie token deposits, possibly linked to the exploit.

“We've noticed a large number of unusual NORMIE token deposits, possibly linked to an exploit. We urge the project team to contact us with details about the addresses involved and potential solutions,” LBank stated.

Interestingly, the attacker offered to return 90% of the stolen assets if the project launched a new token to compensate affected holders.

In response, the Normie team accepted this proposal and assured there would be no reprisals. Additionally, the project stated that all the ETH in its development wallet would be committed to the recovery effort. On-chain data shows that the Normie developer wallet currently holds about 736 ETH, valued at approximately $11.7 million.

“Exploiter, we accept your offer to return 90% of the exploited ETH. You may keep 10%, no reprisals. All $ETH from the normie dev wallet will be used to rectify this situation and assist in our relaunch,” Normie's team stated.

Normie, a memecoin, was launched on Base in March during the meme coin frenzy that swept the blockchain network following the introduction of the Dencun Upgrade, drastically reducing fees for Ethereum layer-2 networks.

The project had enjoyed some early successes, reaching a market capitalization exceeding $100 million before this incident.