Gaming Token Gala Stabilizes as Company Says Security Incident 'Contained'

The native token of crypto gaming project Gala Games {{GALA}} fell sharply Monday amid fears of a major transfer of over $200 million worth of GALA tokens that traders feared was a hack, and then recovered after the company said the security incident had been "contained and the impacted wallet has been frozen."

The security incident involving the $GALA token has been contained and the impacted wallet has been frozen.

This was an isolated incident, the cause of which has been addressed and we are working closely with law enforcement to investigate the individuals behind the breach.…

— Gala Games (@GoGalaGames) May 21, 2024

On Monday, an unknown party minted 5 billion Gala tokens and proceeded to sell them on decentralized exchange Uniswap, according to blockchain explorers.

Gala Games representatives had not previously announced the activity nor did they offer a quick explanation in the project's Discord server, spurring fears that the mass mint and sell was a hack.

Eric Schiermeyer, Gala Games' CEO who also goes by the handle Benefactor, said in a post on X that the company "identified the compromise and within 45 minutes we secured and removed unauthorized access to the $GALA contract."

"It's important to note our ETH contract for $GALA is secure and under the protection of a multi-sig wallet. It was never compromised," he wrote. "It's important to note our ETH contract for $GALA is secure and under the protection of a multi-sig wallet. It was never compromised."

Schiermeyer said the company has been in touch with the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice, and a "network of international authorities."

GALA's price sank as low as $0.039 in the aftermath, down 19% from the day's high set just over an hour earlier. It has since recovered, and stabilized at $0.042, according to CoinGecko data.

UPDATE (May 21, 01:56 UTC): Updates story with a statement from Gala Games, Eric Schiermeyer. Updates price.