OpenSea Bug Destroys $100,000 In Ethereum NFTs, Accidentally

A bug in the online nonfungible token auction house OpenSea has accidentally destroyed at least 42 NFTs worth a minimum of $100,000.

The issue was first raised by Nick Johnson, the lead developer of Ethereum Name Service (ENS), according to a Decrypt report. 

ENS allows blockchain addresses to be associated with domain names.

When Johnson transferred an ENS name, which comes in NFTs, it went to a burn address. It was then accidentally sent to an address that nobody controls.

According to Johnson, it was the first ENS name ever registered. The name was rilxxlir.eth. 

While Johnson registered it with personal funds, it was held by an ENS account. In order to move the ENS name so it was under his own account, he went to OpenSea for the transfer. 

At that point in time, by mistake, it was sent to the burn address.

Talking about the incident, Johnson tweeted, “A frantic call to OpenSea later, it transpires I was the first and apparently only victim of a bug introduced to their transfer page in the past 24 hours, which affected all ERC721 transfers to ENS names. Ownership of rilxxlir.eth is now permanently burned.”

Later, Johnson received reports from other similarly affected people and put together a list of 32 affected transactions involving 42 NFTs. The total amount for these 42 NFTs was $100,000. 

OpenSea has processed more than $1.5 billion in trading volume on Ethereum so far in August. It has surpassed $1 billion in monthly trading volume already. 

In July, OpeSea raised $100 million in its Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing the firm to a valuation of $1.5 billion. 

OpenSea is planning to expand its service to multiple blockchains in search of a long-term solution.