In the aftermath of a significant hack, where vulnerabilities in aging contracts on the NFT Trader platform were exploited, resulting in the theft of high-value NFTs, an unexpected hero surfaced to address the crisis.
Foobar, also known as 0xfoobar, the founder of Delegate, played a crucial role in decoding the faulty code. Alongside him was Fade, a talented 16-year-old coder, who, despite choosing to remain anonymous, contributed significantly to the mission of identifying and rectifying vulnerabilities within NFT Trader’s compromised contracts.
In an exclusive interview with nft now, Fade shared insights into his perspective on the events and the extraordinary efforts undertaken to safeguard millions of dollars worth of digital assets.
nft now: How did you first get into coding and web3?
Fade: I’ve been experimenting with little scripts for a few years, mostly stemming from thoughts like “How can I make this easier?” My interest toward crypto came initially from seeing it used as a payment method, from where I learned more about the ecosystem and also witnessed the rise of web3 (have been lurking for a while) and the access to the system it can provide to individuals like myself.
nft now: How do you balance web3 with your day-to-day life as a 16-year-old?
Fade: It’s definitely a challenge to keep myself up to date with everything in the space, but I try and manage. Finding the right accounts to follow is the key.
nft now: Can you walk us through the sequence of events from your perspective?
Fade: I’d first discovered the exploit pretty early on through a tweet on my timeline and was actively watching the main exploiter steal valuable NFTs one by one. Then, the attacks stopped. The NFT Trader multisig had paused the contract to prevent any more NFTs from being stolen, and I thought that was it.
nft now: How did you discover what was going on with the NFT Trader contract exploit, and what made you decide to dive into the code and figure out a solution?
Fade: A little while later, I saw that NFTs were still being stolen, and it turned out there was another contract being exploited. That’s what made me go into the code; I was curious why the contract wasn’t paused and came to the same conclusion Foobar did.
The interview covers Fade’s role in helping Foobar decipher the faulty code, the collaboration with NFT Trader to implement a fix, and the overwhelming response he received for his contributions.
The 16-year-old coder expresses his hope to use his coding skills to contribute more to open-source software and public goods in the future. When asked about security steps to avoid such exploits, Fade recommends users leverage recent advancements in the crypto scene, stay informed about security tools, and emphasizes the importance of high-quality audits for protocols.
Fade’s rapid and effective response to the NFT Trader exploit showcases the valuable contributions even young developers can make in the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency security.
