UXLINK Hacker Gets Hacked: $2B Token Minting Scandal Takes a Bizarre Turn

The crypto world is used to dramatic hacks, but few stories spiral into such strange territory as the recent UXLINK hack. Attackers exploited a flaw in the project’s multisig controls to mint billions in tokens. Then, in an ironic twist, the attacker became a victim themselves, losing much of the stolen haul to a phishing scam. The result is a bizarre saga that has left traders, exchanges, and the broader community caught between disbelief and ridicule.

The Multisig Breach That Sparked It All

UXLINK, a Web3 social protocol, experienced a collapse of its governance system when attackers compromised its multisig wallet. This enabled them to mint more than $2 billion worth of CRUX tokens, far exceeding the project’s intended supply. While the headline number shocked the industry, analysts estimate the actual realized losses were closer to $11–48 million, depending on token liquidity and sell-offs.

Market Fallout and Exchange Warnings

The market reaction was swift. The UXLINK token price fell by over 70%, wiping out months of gains. Major exchanges such as Upbit issued trading warnings, and others flagged the project as high-risk to protect users. Confidence in UXLINK evaporated overnight. As a result, discussions quickly shifted from concern to skepticism over whether the project could recover.

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The Twist: Hacker Becomes the Hacked

If the exploit wasn’t strange enough, the attacker soon faced an even stranger twist. In what many called crypto karma, the wallet that drained UXLINK later fell victim to a phishing attack. A large portion of the stolen tokens disappeared.

The irony hasn’t gone unnoticed. Lookonchain commented: “Interestingly, the hacker who attacked $UXLINK was targeted by a phishing attack and lost 542M $UXLINK($48M).”

Community reaction was swift and merciless. Memes flooded social media, mocking both UXLINK’s flawed defenses and the hacker’s own lack of awareness. What began as one of the largest minting exploits in recent memory turned into a comedy of errors.

Lessons From the Chaos

The UXLINK breach highlights deeper problems in the DeFi security landscape. Multisig wallets, long seen as safeguards against unilateral exploits, once again proved vulnerable to poor governance and errors. At the same time, the fact that even the hacker fell for basic phishing tactics shows how trust in Web3 systems remains fragile. For investors, the message is clear: no protocol is too big, too decentralized, or too well-funded to avoid catastrophic mistakes.

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The UXLINK hack will be remembered not just for the billions in tokens minted or the millions in market losses. It will also be remembered for the sheer absurdity of its aftermath. In the end, both the project and the attacker lost — one to compromised governance, the other to a scam as old as the internet. The episode is a stark reminder that in crypto, the line between victim and villain can blur faster than the market can crash.