The Sandbox SAND Exploit: $49B in New Tokens Flood Base

Metaverse project The Sandbox is facing a critical security breach after its SAND cross-chain OFT contract on the Base network was reportedly exploited, allowing an attacker to carry out an “infinite mint” attack.

Onchain data shows the attack is still active, with nearly $49 billion worth of SAND have been created through more than 400 transactions.

How Did the SAND Minting Attack Happen?

According to security firm Blockaid, attackers gained control of LayerZero delegate permissions linked to SAND’s OFT system on Base.

The attackers appear to have used “approveAndCall” to bypass the normal controls and create new SAND without the required backing.

At one point, around 500 million SAND had been created, equal to nearly 17% of SAND’s 3 billion-token supply.

PeckShield later reported that about 14.9 billion SAND appeared across two addresses linked to the attack. 

Meanwhile, Blockaid reported an even larger figure, saying nearly $49 billion worth of SAND had been created through more than 400 transactions.

$49 Billion SAND Does Not Mean $49 Billion Was Stolen

The $49 billion figure represents the market value of the newly created tokens, not money that attackers actually received.

Because these tokens were created without backing, they cannot simply be sold for $49 billion. Selling such a huge amount would likely crash SAND’s price.

The actual amount extracted appears much smaller. 

The Ethereum OFT adapter reportedly lost around 14.75 million SAND, worth about $675,000 at the time. Around 79.74 ETH was reportedly converted from the stolen funds.

Quick Response From Bithumb & Upbit Exchanges 

The unusual activity has already triggered action from exchanges. Bithumb suspended SAND deposits and withdrawals, while Upbit issued an investor warning over the abnormal on-chain activity.

Security firms, including CertiK, have also flagged the incident, adding to concerns that the situation was still developing.

The Sandbox Confirms Base and BSC Impact

Hours after the exploit, The Sandbox team responded on X by stating that it has fixed the security issue affecting SAND’s cross-chain bridge on Base and BNB Smart Chain (BSC). The impact is less than 0.01% of the total SAND supply. Ethereum and Polygon were not affected.

The Sandbox said no user wallets were hacked, and SAND locked on Ethereum remains safe. The attacker created SAND without proper backing on Base and BSC, so the team has stopped bridging on both networks.

The team has also asked users not to buy, sell, or trade SAND on Base or BSC. It is taking a snapshot of the network before the attack and plans to compensate eligible liquidity providers.

SAND Price Keeps Rising Despite Exploit

Surprisingly, SAND has continued to rise despite reports of the exploit. The token was up 4.76% at $0.0476, while trading volume jumped more than 400%.