Major Setback: Smart Contract Exploit Results in Over 200 Ethscriptions Being Nabbed

cryptonews.com:

According to its creator, a new protocol allowing the creation and sharing of digital objects on Ethereum has experienced a significant setback due to a major hack in its main marketplace.

Ethscriptions, a novel method to create Ethereum assets launched last month by Tom Lehman, co-founder and former CEO of Genius.com, utilizes transaction "calldata" to write non-financial data to the blockchain network. 

"About 123 individual addresses lost about 202 Ethscriptions in this exploit," Lehman said. "Any young protocol will have bumpy landings, but this is not what I meant."

Lehman took responsibility for the failure, attributing the exploit to a smart contract developed by himself and Michael Hirsch, co-founder of Indelible Labs. 

The flaw originated in a code snippet that enabled the unauthorized withdrawal of Ethscriptions from the marketplace.

While the Ethscriptions protocol and other related applications remain uncompromised, many listings on Ethscriptions.com were reported stolen, according to Lehman's tweet on Friday.

The exact extent of the value lost due to the exploit remains uncertain; however, recent data from NFT marketplace OpenSea reveals that certain Ethscriptions have been sold for as much as 5 Ethereum, approximately equivalent to $9,600, over the past month, highlighting the significant impact.

Lehman raised awareness about the exploit on July 14, and a notice regarding the affected state of the marketplace continues to be displayed on Ethscriptions.com. 

The website includes a warning advising users to withdraw their Ethscriptions and avoid creating new listings due to the ongoing issue with the marketplace contract.

Lehman expressed his dismay over the Ethscriptions loss, describing it as "terrible," with a