Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Hong Kong NFT project Monkey Kingdom loses US$1.3 million in hack

Hong Kong NFT project Monkey Kingdom loses US$1.3 million in hack

Monkey Kingdom fraud is the latest in a series of scams seen in the space in recent months as the popularity around NFT reaches fever pitch.

Popular non-fungible token (NFT) project Monkey Kingdom, founded by entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and promoted by celebrities such as JJ Lin and Steve Aoki, had its group chat hacked on Tuesday, allowing a cyber thief to steal nearly US$1.3 million worth of cryptocurrencies with a phishing link.

A hacker stole an administrator account of the project’s group chat on Discord, a popular online instant messaging service, and posted a phishing link in the group chat on Tuesday, just as the project kicked off a new sale in earnest. Buyers lost more than 7,000 Solana, a popular cryptocurrency, to the scam, which amounts to nearly US$1.3 million.

Phishing is a common form of online fraud often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. It is now being used to breach access to users’ cryptocurrency wallets.

This is the latest in a series of scams seen in the NFT space in recent months as the popularity around NFT reaches fever pitch. Sales volume of NFTs surged to US$10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar.

Launched on November 27, Monkey Kingdom, which comprises 2,222 digital portraits of the mythical hero Monkey King dressed in different styles, has quickly become one of the most talked-about NFT projects in Asia, with endorsements from celebrities including Steve Aoki, JJ Lin and Ian Chan of the Hong Kong-based boy band Mirror.

In addressing the hack, the project made a post on Twitter on Tuesday, saying: “At 10:00pm HKT when our presale began, our Announcement channel on Discord was hijacked by a bot named ‘Monkey Kingdom’ while our website was experiencing traffic. A discord webhook got compromised and posted a phishing link to the Announcement channel.”

A Monkey Kingdom buyer, whose Twitter handle was “commenstar”, took to the social media platform to share his loss on Tuesday. “Guys I got drained 650 SOL,” the buyer said, “Never thought it was not a legit mint link in [the] official discord [channel.”

On Wednesday, the project announced on Twitter that it has earmarked 7,056 Solana for a “compensation fund” to help refund buyers who were scammed by the hack.

Monkey Kingdom did not immediately reply to a request for comment by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday.

Hong Kong native Andrew Man, a real estate investment professional by day and an NFT enthusiast by night, said that scams have become common occurrences in the world of NFT as its popularity surges.

“It’s become very common. Almost every week, someone in my WeChat group would say that some NFTs have been stolen,” he said, “A friend of mine lost a plot of land in The Sandbox.” The Sandbox, an NFT-powered video game, sells plots of land in its virtual world as NFT to users.

He said that phishing links are a common ploy by which thieves can steal from cryptocurrency holders. Some phishing links ask users to share the so-called “seed phrases” to their virtual wallets, which can compromise their wallets.

Founded by a team of eight pseudonymous crypto enthusiasts, Monkey Kingdom represents a new breed of NFT start-ups in Hong Kong.

Monkey Kingdom aims to compete with other popular NFT profile picture projects in the West, such as CryptoPunks and Bored Apes Yacht Club, with a focus on Asia. “We believe in the Monkey Kingdom mission, and will make it a point to champion the Asian voice in the Web 3.0 ecosystem – shining a light on our rich cultures, and sharing it with the world,” the project wrote in a tweet on Tuesday.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×