The Sandbox

Cryptocurrency exchange GMO Coin announced on September 9 that it will discontinue handling of three cryptocurrencies: The Sandbox (SAND), Chiliz (CHZ), and Filecoin (FIL). The reasons cited for the discontinuation include changes in project continuity and market liquidity, as well as the potential difficulty in securing counterparties for cover transactions. Cover transactions are trades in which the exchange conducts offsetting trades with major overseas exchanges to maintain a neutral position, and for illiquid cryptocurrencies, it becomes difficult to find counterparties. The lending service for crypto assets will end on September 15, and after the scheduled maintenance concludes on October 24, buying and selling on the exchange and deposits will be halted. On November 7, the acceptance of transfers to external wallets will also end. Domestic exchanges have been successively discontinuing cryptocurrencies since August, with SBI VC Trade discontinuing seven cryptocurrencies including SAND on August 5, BitTrade discontinuing Boba (BOBA), Flare (FLR), and Tezos (XTZ) on August 20, and Coincheck discontinuing Blood Crystal (BC) on August 26. On September 4, SBI VC Trade and BitPoint announced the discontinuation of a combined nine cryptocurrencies, and GMO Coin's announcement is part of this trend.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported on X on August 22 that the metaverse project The Sandbox may have been attacked, with roughly 14.9 billion SAND minted abnormally to two addresses. The maximum supply of SAND by design is 3 billion tokens, making the reported amount about 4.97 times that cap. The abnormal issuance was concentrated in two addresses, with about 14.65 billion SAND confirmed in one and about 250 million SAND in the other. The Sandbox confirmed the same day that there was a vulnerability in the SAND cross-chain bridge and suspended related functions on Base and BNB Smart Chain. South Korean crypto exchange Upbit issued a caution, and Bithumb suspended SAND deposits and withdrawals.