Upbit Warns, Bithumb Suspends SAND After 500M+ Token Mint Exploit on Base
South Korea’s two largest crypto exchanges moved first. On August 22, 2026, Upbit issued a trading caution, and Bithumb suspended SAND deposits and withdrawals after on-chain alerts flagged a suspected exploit. The said exploit happened on The Sandbox’s Base network deployment. Minutes later, blockc
South Korea's two largest cryptocurrency exchanges moved swiftly on August 22, 2026, after on-chain alerts flagged a suspected exploit targeting The Sandbox's deployment on Base, Coinbase's Layer 2 network. Upbit issued a formal trading caution on SAND, while Bithumb suspended all SAND deposits and withdrawals as a precautionary measure. Blockchain security firm PeckShield subsequently confirmed the breach, revealing that more than 500 million SAND tokens had been minted through the exploit, raising immediate concerns about the integrity of the token's supply.
The Sandbox is a well-established blockchain-based metaverse platform that uses SAND as its native utility and governance token. The project had expanded its infrastructure to Base as part of broader multichain deployment efforts. Unauthorized minting exploits of this scale typically involve vulnerabilities in smart contract logic, particularly in access control mechanisms governing token issuance functions.
The incident carries significant implications for the broader industry, as it underscores persistent risks associated with multichain token deployments. When a single chain-specific contract is compromised, the resulting token inflation can affect price discovery and liquidity across all markets where the asset trades. The rapid response from Upbit and Bithumb demonstrated an increasingly coordinated approach between on-chain security monitoring firms and centralized exchanges.
Market participants will be watching for an official post-mortem from The Sandbox development team, any announced remediation steps, and whether additional exchanges move to restrict SAND trading while the investigation remains ongoing.
Source: CoinGape
