Metaverse platform The Sandbox moved quickly on August 22, 2026, to contain a vulnerability in its SAND cross-chain bridge after on-chain monitors detected unauthorized minting on the Base network. Attackers reportedly seized LayerZero delegate permissions tied to the Omnichain Fungible Token contract, enabling the creation of large volumes of unbacked SAND tokens through repeated transactions.

Security researchers described the incident as an infinite mint exploit. One firm stated that attackers used approveAndCall functions to bypass standard controls. Activity was tracked across hundreds of transactions on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, with similar issues later identified on BNB Smart Chain.

Conflicting Estimates of Minted Supply

Reports on the scale of the mint diverged sharply. Some on-chain trackers initially flagged more than 500 million SAND created without authorization, a volume equal to roughly 17 percent of the token’s fixed 3 billion maximum supply on Ethereum. Other alerts pointed to approximately 14.9 billion SAND appearing across two addresses. A separate assessment put the face value of tokens generated through more than 400 transactions near $49 billion.

These figures represent the nominal market value of newly issued tokens rather than realized gains by the attackers. Because the tokens lacked proper backing, liquidating large quantities would have exerted heavy downward pressure on price. Actual extracted value appeared far smaller. One report indicated the Ethereum OFT adapter lost about 14.75 million SAND, valued at roughly $675,000 at the time, of which around 79.74 ETH was converted from the proceeds.

The contract involved is a Base-specific deployment built on LayerZero’s standard and is distinct from the mainnet SAND token, whose supply remains capped at 3 billion. Prior to the incident, the Base contract held a much smaller total supply, making the sudden increase many times larger than the previous on-chain figure.

Project Response and Containment

Hours after the activity surfaced, The Sandbox announced that it had identified and fully contained the vulnerability affecting the cross-chain bridge on Base and BNB Smart Chain. The team stated that the impact represented less than 0.01 percent of the total SAND token supply. Ethereum and Polygon networks were unaffected, no user wallets were compromised, and SAND locked on Ethereum remained secure.

Bridging operations on the two affected networks were halted. The project said it would take a pre-attack snapshot of the network and compensate eligible liquidity providers. Users were advised against buying, selling, or trading SAND on Base or BNB Smart Chain while remediation continued.

Exchange Precautions and Market Reaction

South Korean exchanges reacted promptly. Upbit issued a notice confirming circumstances suggesting a security issue linked to activity on Base and urged holders to exercise special caution amid potential volatility. Bithumb suspended SAND deposits and withdrawals as a precautionary measure. Neither platform announced delisting at the time.

Despite the reports, SAND’s price held firm or advanced. One snapshot showed the token trading near $0.0476, up about 4.76 percent on the day, with trading volume rising more than 400 percent. Another reading placed it at $0.0456, a gain of 1.59 percent, with market capitalization around $134 million and circulating supply near 2.93 billion of the 3 billion total.

Security firms including Blockaid, PeckShield, and others continued monitoring as the situation developed. The project’s rapid containment and clarification that core Ethereum holdings remained intact helped limit broader disruption, though questions lingered over the precise final mint total and the ultimate disposition of the newly created tokens on the secondary networks.