Excited about Trump's appearance... Blockchain industry 'surprised' by massive hacking

As Wemade's cryptocurrency WEMIX suffered a 9 billion won hacking attack, attention is focusing on the blockchain security systems of Korean game companies. This comes at a time when expectations were building that blockchain could become a notable platform in the gaming industry due to the Trump administration's executive order on fostering the cryptocurrency industry, and Wemade, a domestic frontrunner, has suffered hacking damage. Experts point out that the cause is likely due to companies' negligence in security systems.

Released Korea's first P2E game... 'On edge' after hacking shock

According to the industry on the 18th, the WEMIX Foundation confirmed that about 8.65 million WEMIX coins were stolen from the 'Play Bridge Vault' late last month. The unidentified attacker reportedly infiltrated the system by stealing authentication keys for the service monitoring system of the NFT platform 'Nile'.

WEMIX believes that data leaked from a public repository was likely the main cause of the hacking. To prevent recurrence, they plan to collaborate with external security experts and strengthen their monitoring systems.

Wemade has been recognized as a leader in the blockchain gaming sector after launching Korea's first P2E (Play-to-Earn) game. The company also established an ecosystem connecting its games through the blockchain platform 'WEMIX Play'.

Wemade operates all its major games, including its flagship 'MIR4' and 'Night Crow,' through the WEMIX Play platform. Users can exchange in-game assets for WEMIX on this platform and own game characters in NFT form.

The company also released a new blockchain-integrated game, 'Legend of Ymir,' on the 20th of last month. This MMORPG based on Norse mythology uses blockchain technology to create top-tier items in NFT format, allowing users to view the entire transaction history from item creation to deletion.

Korean game companies: "Strengthening security with dedicated chains and monitoring"

The impact of this hacking incident on the blockchain gaming market is also drawing attention. U.S. President Donald Trump issued executive orders including establishing a Bitcoin Strategic Asset Reserve Management Office in the Treasury Department and fostering the cryptocurrency industry. He also promoted stablecoins that are pegged to the U.S. dollar. The United States allows P2E games.

Major Korean game companies have turned their attention overseas instead of the domestic market, where P2E games are impossible to service. In Korea, P2E games have been labeled 'illegal' due to gambling concerns, as users can trade items obtained in games or convert tokens to cryptocurrency for profit.

Korean game companies are strengthening dedicated chains or monitoring to maintain stable security levels. Netmarble's blockchain specialist company Mavrex has built a structure that can quickly respond to external attacks using a bridge-dedicated chain. At the same time, they are strengthening internal bridge inspections and monitoring access history to critical servers 24 hours a day to block hacking attempts from both inside and outside, according to the company.

They have also established management systems such as obtaining the international standard certification for information protection, 'ISO/IEC 27001'. A Mavrex representative explained, "We plan to further solidify our competitive advantage in the blockchain gaming market through strong security measures."

Netmarble has also announced plans to boost Mavrex through the popularization of the Web3 gaming ecosystem. Web3 games represent a new business model in the gaming industry that incorporates blockchain technology. Netmarble has set a goal to introduce more than 10 new games to the Mavrex ecosystem by 2026.

Kakao Games continues to conduct real-time monitoring while regularly receiving technical verification through 'contract code audits'. Kakao Games issues a cryptocurrency called 'BORA' and plans to release a 'baseball simulation game' applying it this year.

Professor Hyuk-joon Kwon of Soonchunhyang University's Department of Economics and Finance pointed out, "Blockchain systems cannot be vulnerable to hacking such as data forgery. The issue is with companies' and exchanges' security management systems. If security system management is neglected, there is a high possibility of vulnerability to hacking attacks."

A blockchain security industry insider explained, "Since there is no perfect security system currently, hacking incidents will inevitably continue to occur. To prevent such hacking from recurring, companies must strengthen developer security education and continuously supplement security infrastructure."

Park Soo-bin, Hankyung.com reporter waterbean@hankyung.com