CHAINSAW

DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS

Chain/Saw is a platform designed to foster innovation and experimentation in the evolving world of digital art, particularly through NFTs. It serves as both a creative space and a marketplace, encouraging artists and collectors to explore and shape a new digital art paradigm. At its core, Chain/Saw aims to question and redefine the possibilities of blockchain-based art.

Founded by Frank Musarra—an artist, musician, and creative technologist—Chain/Saw emerged from dialogues with peers interested in the NFT space yet uncertain about its long-term impact. These discussions inspired the creation of a space that not only showcases visionary digital projects but also stimulates critical thinking about the role of NFTs in the broader art ecosystem.

Chain/Saw is committed to curating projects that challenge traditional conceptions of art, engaging a community that includes not only creators and collectors but also those curious about the future of artistic expression. In doing so, it positions itself at the intersection of technology and culture, seeking to influence the trajectory of digital art and its reception in both new and established art worlds.

ChainSaw NFT accidentally hired a worker from North Korea, who was placed in a position of trust managing the NFT launches.

Peplicator and Replicandy were both 24-hour generative NFT minting events created by Matt Furie, leveraging smart contract technology to create unique, 1-of-1 digital collectibles. Technically, both projects operated on a system that allowed users to generate (“respin”) randomized artwork combinations—built from pre-designed visual layers—until they found a version they wanted to mint. Each final minted NFT was recorded on-chain as a unique asset.

The minting contracts were coded to remain open only during a strict 24-hour window—Peplicator from March 8–9 and Replicandy from June 17–18. Once this window closed, minting was permanently disabled and the collection supply was locked forever. This time-bound mechanic ensured scarcity and exclusivity, a common practice in generative art drops to maintain long-term value.

The “respin” function was likely implemented client-side, allowing for infinite previews generated from randomized layer combinations before committing to an on-chain mint. When a user chose to mint, the specific configuration of visual traits was locked in and stored on-chain or via metadata (typically IPFS or similar decentralized storage), assigning it a unique token ID. This blend of randomness, user interaction, and strict temporal limits made both projects technically simple yet effective in creating engaging, collectible NFT experiences.

ZachXBT estimated a $1m loss across all NFT projects.

"Fortunately, Rarepepes and PEGZ are on older, separate deployments and don't seem to have been affected."

Republicandy originally posted an update on Twitter/X:

"Republicandy was targeted and exploited by a known party. The contract was compromised, and our team is actively pursuing all appropriate channels to address it. We appreciate your patience and will share more soon."

The post on Twitter/X was reportedly deleted. The Discord was reportedly closed.

A variety of possible solutions could be done, such as launching a new smart contract ChainSaw NFTs appears to be largely silent on a pan for compensating users.

There is limited communication from ChainSaw NFT. An investigation is likely happening behind the scenes.

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ZachXBT - "Multiple projects tied to Pepe creator Matt Furie & ChainSaw as well as another project Favrr were exploited in the past week which resulted in ~$1M stolen. My analysis links both attacks to the same cluster of DPRK IT workers who were likely accidentally hired as developers." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
The Coinpie - "Replicandy mint was live for 20 hours (of 24 hr OE similar to peplicators) with a meager 1870 mints. Then it got paused with no comms. Only to reopen just past the 24 hr deadline at a price of 0.001 instead of 0.1, which flooded the collection and nuked the price. Except none of the NFTs past 1870 have art attached..." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
@TheCoinpie Twitter (Jun 27)
ChudoSasshha - "Thanks for sharing what’s happened from a Replicandy community member because a founder & team still silent and unfortunately don’t care about their holders at all." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
Mr.Ponzi - "Funds were immediately drained from the smart contract. The team went radio silent for over 24h, then posted a tweet confirming the exploit, only to shut down the Discord. Now, they’ve deleted the tweet." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
ethwesc - "The Peplicator contract has also been exploited the same way Replicandy was, allowing new mints. Most likely by the same developer who worked on both contracts." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
CaoLinSan - "Absolute mess w/ @Matt_Furie and Chain/Saw, his launch partner. After the Replicandy exploit, more of his collections were hit. Thousands minted and dumped into WETH offers. Radio silence. Posts hinting at a “known party” behind it deleted. Feel for Matt and everyone affected, this looks bad." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
Bry Disanto - "Still literally no comms and discord locked since the replicandy exploit, and now this. @ChainSawNFT do better." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
Trystan NFT - "I'm really sorry for you bro. I really hope there's a solution. Apparently they managed to save Replicandy's 96 eth." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
Trystan NFT - "It's really sad. I don't know anything about coding, but I'll stick to my (possibly wrong) theory: I think they contacted the police. They were told not to take any action for now. Another possibility is that their passwords and other sensitive information were compromised." - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
Dandellacorte - Image Of Door Knocking Grim Reaper - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
0xGLAZED - "After ZOGZ, I decided not to support his NFTs any longer." - Twtiter/X (Jun 27)
@maximusmood Twitter (Jun 27)
@maximusmood Twitter (Jun 27)
@cryptoetsguy Twitter (Jun 27)
@cryptoetsguy Twitter (Jun 27)
@DimmadomeCrypto Twitter (Jun 27)
@casey__francis Twitter (Jun 27)
@casey__francis Twitter (Jun 27)
Chainsaw Homepage (Jun 27)
Chainsaw Collections - OpenSea (Jun 27)
Republicandy - OpenSea Collection (Jun 27)
Republicandy Homepage (Jun 27)
Peplicator - OpenSea Collection (Jun 27)
ChainSaw NFT Account - Twitter/X (Jun 27)
https://x.com/James07570/status/1937094390385672364 (Jun 27)

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