Wemade's WEMIX cryptocurrency suffers a major security breach, resulting in losses of approximately $9 million

The incident has also triggered a broader sell-off in gaming-related cryptocurrencies issued by South Korean developers.

South Korean game developer Wemade is facing a major setback as its cryptocurrency, WEMIX, continues to plummet amid a large-scale security breach and potential delisting concerns.

The Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA)—a coalition of major South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges—has quickly designated WEMIX as a cautionary asset following the breach.

The apex court's verdict upholding the cryptocurrency legislation has sparked hopes within the industry for swift action by DAXA on this matter.

According to standard procedures, exchanges undertake a two-week review to determine whether to remove the cautionary status, extend the evaluation period, or proceed with a full delisting. This decision depends on the issuer's response and remedial actions.

The move comes as WEMIX has seen a sharp decline in recent months, dropping 40% from last month and 85% compared to the same period last year.

The token was trading at $0.45 as of 9 a.m., March 11, according to CoinMarketCap.

The steep decline follows a large-scale cyberattack. On February 28, the WEMIX Foundation disclosed that hackers had breached its Play Bridge asset-swapping service, leading to the unauthorized withdrawal of 8,654,860 WEMIX tokens.

Based on WEMIX’s price at the time (1,020 won per token), the stolen assets were valued at approximately 88 billion won ($7 million).

However, most of the stolen cryptocurrency was reportedly sold off through exchanges, resulting in a total loss of about $9 million by February 28.

The fallout from the breach has also sparked concerns over a potential delisting of WEMIX from South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges.

The incident has triggered a broader sell-off in gaming-related cryptocurrencies issued by South Korean developers.

As of 9 a.m., March 11, Netmarble’s MBX was trading at $0.19, down 34.4% from last month’s $0.29.

Neowiz’s Neopin (NPT) also dropped 42.8%, falling from $0.14 to $0.08.

Kakao Games’ BORA and Com2uS Holdings’ XPLA saw declines of 30% and 50%, respectively.

Unlike Bitcoin, which operates on a fully decentralized network, gaming cryptocurrencies are issued and managed by their respective developers, rendering them inherently more volatile.

These tokens often experience sharp fluctuations driven by market sentiment and gaming industry developments.

The sharp downturn in WEMIX—the largest gaming cryptocurrency in South Korea by market capitalization—has further dampened sentiment.

Amid mounting pressure to shore up their cryptocurrencies, South Korean gaming companies are exploring strategies to expand their gaming ecosystems.

These tokens are primarily used as in-game currencies within their respective platforms, and companies are now working to introduce new games and increase their tokens’ utility to boost demand.

However, South Korean regulations prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies for in-game transactions or their direct conversion into fiat currency, limiting domestic adoption.

As a result, developers have shifted their focus to enhancing global interoperability.

Kakao Games has announced plans to integrate BORA into an upcoming baseball simulation game, which will feature a globally recognized intellectual property (IP) and is scheduled for release later this year.

Netmarble is expanding its Web3 gaming platform—a model that incorporates blockchain technology to enable decentralized game operations and transparent reward systems. The company aims to drive mainstream adoption of Web3 gaming as part of its strategy to strengthen MBX.

"Regulatory restrictions in Korea have already dampened user interest in gaming tokens," a cryptocurrency industry insider said.

"Even without the regulatory challenges, the WEMIX incident has severely damaged the credibility of gaming tokens, making it difficult for them to regain momentum in the near term."