Wemade's cryptocurrency 'WEMIX' has suffered hacking damage worth 9 billion won, raising concerns about delisting. Some cryptocurrency exchanges have designated WEMIX as a watch list item, and it is noted that considerable time will be required to restore trust. Consequently, the prices of cryptocurrencies issued by other domestic gaming companies have also fallen.
According to CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency market analysis firm, WEMIX traded at $0.45 as of 9 a.m. on the 11th, down 40.0% from last month's $0.75. Compared to the same period last year ($3.19), it has plunged 85.8%. The recent sharp decline in WEMIX is attributed to a large-scale hacking incident. The WEMIX Foundation disclosed on the 4th that a malicious external attack occurred on the cryptocurrency exchange service 'Play Bridge' on the 28th of last month, resulting in the abnormal withdrawal of 8,654,860 WEMIX coins. Calculated at the price on the 28th (1,020 won), this amounts to approximately 8.8 billion won. Most of the stolen cryptocurrency has reportedly been sold on exchanges.
As such news broke, the prices of cryptocurrencies issued by domestic gaming companies have also plunged. As of 9 a.m. on that day, Netmarble's Mabrex (MBX) recorded $0.19, a 34.4% drop from the previous month ($0.29). During the same period, NEOWIZ's Neopin (NPT) fell from $0.14 to $0.08, a decrease of 42.8%. Kakao Games' Bora (BORA) and Com2uS Holdings' XPLA also showed declines of 30% and 50%, respectively.
Unlike completely decentralized Bitcoin, gaming company cryptocurrencies are classified as relatively unstable assets since the gaming companies hold the issuance and distribution rights. Thus, gaming company cryptocurrencies tend to follow market trends, experiencing 'short-lived popularity.' With the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin's price plummeting recently, gaming company cryptocurrencies are also being affected. Amid growing concerns about a U.S. economic recession, U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that he will enforce high tariff policies, causing Bitcoin's price to show a declining trend for a month before falling below $80,000 again.
WEMIX, the largest by market capitalization among domestic gaming company cryptocurrencies, is facing potential delisting, which is likely to negatively impact the market conditions for gaming company cryptocurrencies for the time being. The Joint Council of Domestic Digital Asset Exchanges (DAXA) designated WEMIX as a watch list item immediately after the incident became known. Watch list items typically undergo a review process for two weeks to determine whether to delist. Depending on the issuer's response or subsequent measures, actions such as maintaining or lifting the watch list status or delisting may be taken. Currently, Wemade is being criticized for notifying about the hacking incident only four days after its occurrence.
A Wemade official noted that "in order to restore market confidence, we plan to conduct market buybacks for WEMIX coins to alleviate the market impact caused by the asset theft alongside the recovery of Bridge Volt" and added, "We will announce the second normalization response plan soon and will sincerely explain to DAXA."
Gaming companies are devising revival strategies such as expanding game ecosystems to elevate the value of their cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrencies issued by gaming companies usually function as the currency within the games they release. Therefore, gaming companies are working to boost prices by launching new games or expanding the utility of their cryptocurrencies. However, in the domestic market, since the use of virtual assets in games or the ability to convert them into cash is not permitted, domestic gaming companies are focusing on increasing global interoperability.
Kakao Games announced that it plans to apply Bora in its upcoming 'baseball simulation game (working title)' utilizing global intellectual property (IP). Netmarble stated it will strengthen its Web3 gaming platform. Web3, which incorporates blockchain technology, features decentralized game management and transparent reward systems as major characteristics. Netmarble aims to stimulate Mabrex through the popularization of the Web3 gaming ecosystem.
A source in the cryptocurrency industry stated, "In Korea, there are constraints on the use of virtual assets in games due to regulations, which may have somewhat diminished user interest," but added, "Even without regulation, the ongoing WEMIX risk is likely to harm the image and trust of gaming company cryptocurrencies, making it difficult to gain attention for the time being."