Cross-chain cryptocurrency protocol Wormhole allocated tokens to wallets associated with the 2022 hack during its latest airdrop event before backtracking. The protocol's W token dropped 20.65% amid the unfolding situation.
An anonymous crypto user known as Pland on X pointed out that Wormhole overlooked excluding the hacker from the airdrop. This oversight led to the allocation of more than 31,600 W tokens, worth approximately $38,000, to approximately four addresses linked to the hack.
However, according to a source familiar with the matter, these tokens were removed from the airdrop distribution following the backlash. The addresses in question belonged to the hacker responsible for the theft of 120,000 ETH via Wormhole in 2022. The stolen amount, which was worth approximately $323 million at that time, recorded this attack as one of the largest attacks in the history of decentralized finance.
Despite the initial glitch, Wormhole's airdrop event attracted a lot of attention in the crypto community. According to Coinmarketcap data, the W token has a market value of $2.1 billion at the time of writing.
*This is not investment advice.