Milady Creator Charlotte Fang Hacked, Losing Millions in NFTs and Ether

In a startling development, Charlotte Fang, the founder of the Milady NFT collection and the Remilia decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), confirmed a significant security breach over the weekend. The breach resulted in millions of dollars worth of Ether (ETH) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) being stolen and transferred to a wallet used for liquidating assets.

Unusual Transactions Flagged by Dumpster DAO

The incident was first flagged by Dumpster DAO, an anonymous Twitter user, who noticed unusual transactions and highlighted Fang’s acknowledgment of the breach. On March 16, Dumpster DAO posted that assets from multiple official Remilia wallets had been moved to a suspicious address and were being sold off. This drainer wallet received approximately 850 ETH, which is nearly $3 million at current prices, and liquidated the assets promptly.

Details of the Hack: Unknown Malware Compromise

Charlotte Fang, also known as Krishna Okhandiar, took to social media to confirm the hack. Fang explained that the breach was caused by unknown malware that infiltrated his password manager, gaining access to seed phrases stored for all connected wallets, including the multisig wallet holding Remilia’s treasury funds. Despite this, Fang reassured the community that the NFT contract and metadata ownership had been transferred to a hardware wallet and were thus secure. Furthermore, the operating treasury had been moved off-chain to ensure its safety.

Community Impact and Reactions

The hack has significantly impacted the Milady project, causing concern among NFT holders and the broader crypto community. Fang advised the community to be cautious of any suspicious communications from compromised accounts and to remain vigilant.

Previous Controversies Surrounding Milady

This security breach is not the first controversy to surround Charlotte Fang and the Milady project. In September 2023, Fang disclosed that a rogue developer had embezzled $1 million from the treasury. This developer, who was involved in the Bonkler project, also attempted to seize control of the platform’s social media accounts and other digital assets.

Security Experts’ Investigation

The latest incident has prompted security experts, including those from Peckshield, to investigate the exploit. Early analysis suggests that a suspicious transfer initiated the security breach, and experts are scrutinizing the sequence of events leading to the hack.

Overview of the Milady NFT Collection

Milady, a collection of 10,000 NFTs created on the Ethereum blockchain, features generative artwork of anime-style women. The collection gained significant attention in the NFT and crypto communities, particularly after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted about it in May 2023, which sent the floor price soaring close to 60% in a single day.

Conclusion

The recent hack affecting the Milady NFT collection and the Remilia DAO treasury underscores the persistent security vulnerabilities within the crypto sector, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. As the community grapples with this latest breach, it serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of robust security measures in safeguarding digital assets. Charlotte Fang’s transparency in addressing the breach and the ongoing investigation by security experts highlight the ongoing efforts to enhance security in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.