Following several hacker exploits, the hugely expected launch of TheShifters NFT collection has been postponed. TheShifters.io had announced that it would launch a new project featuring a new series of NFT collections at the beginning of this year. However, the launch will no longer hold as announced.
TheShifters Puts Its NFT Launch On Hold
TheShifters’ previous NFT collections were widely successful, with one of the collections generating more than $1M. However, TheShifters team has put such plans on hold at the moment. The collection’s creator (andy brown) revealed that “it is almost impossible to decide any timeframe for an NFT launch as the level of fud attacks on new NFTs continue to increase at an alarming proportion.”
Brown further said, “despite the countless amount of time and efforts the team has put into this collection, not including the amount of money spent on raising awareness about it, it is hugely disappointing that we have to postpone this launch.”
The actions of these cybercriminals are affecting the image of the NFT brand as they create a negative notion about the NFT space for the general public. Brown also expressed regret over the inability to launch new NFT collections successfully, saying, “the level of toxicity in the NFT marketplace right now is so high that new NFT collections are doomed to fail before they are launched.”
The Plan And Execution
The hackers created a fake TheShifters website and displayed fake NFTs. Thus, making unsuspecting buyers pay their money for useless NFTs while the hackers pocketed nearly $2.5m in that time. The hackers also ensured buyers couldn’t suspect anything by using an illegal mint link to collect payments for each NFT they sold.
Brown further claimed that “based on the number of fraudulent transactions these cybercriminals conducted, they must have sold nearly $2.5m worth of NFTs.” “That’s why we are making efforts to educate our customers on what to look for before paying for any NFT. We can only hope they follow our instructions to avoid being swindled by these fraudsters,” he added.
Hackers Continue To Exploit The NFT Space
The operations of hackers have been negatively affecting the NFT sector. At the beginning of this year, transaction volumes for NFTs surged to new peak levels. However, when OpenSea (the biggest NFT platform) was hacked, transaction volumes on NFTs started declining at an astonishing rate.
Various on-chain data analytics show that NFT transaction volumes for this month are more than 50% lower than that of January 2022. Also, the constant hacker exploits have caused a significant decline in the floor prices and daily transaction volumes of popular NFT collections.
Over the weekend, two teenagers were arrested in connection with a $1.2 NFT fraud case by Los Angeles security operatives. The activities of hackers have caused some NFT platforms to start shutting down their operations. The VeVe NFT marketplace is the last NFT platform to shut down operations following hacker exploits that resulted in the loss of million-dollar worth of NFTs.