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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"176142ef-6cc0-4fd2-9c2f-50b62c6e9fc1","kind":"publish","page_slug":"vulcan-forged","published_at":"2026-05-25T18:20:06.884Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Vulcan Forged","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/jamie-thomson-ceo-of-vulcan-forged-on-the-future-of-blockchain-gaming-and-growing-a-company-from-1-120-employees-ep-205/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/09/21/play-to-earn-gaming-platform-vulcan-forged-raises-8m-in-series-a-funding","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-is-vulcan-forged-pyr-and-how-to-make-money-playing-it","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.theblock.co/post/127270/96-private-keys-stolen-from-vulcan-forged-in-140-million-theft","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://decrypt.co/88177/hacker-steals-140-million-polygon-gaming-platform-nft-marketplace-vulcan-forged","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.venly.io/blog/venly-informs-of-vulcan-forged-hack-with-at-least-96-vulcan-forged-wallets-affected","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/12/14/gaming-platform-vulcan-forged-refunds-users-after-140m-hack","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://forkast.news/headlines/vulcan-forged-replaces-token-stolen-hack/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://skynet.certik.com/projects/vulcanforged","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://dappradar.com/blog/vulcan-forged-ecosystem-learns-valuable-lessons-in-recent-hack","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.venly.io/blog/venly-informs-of-vulcan-forged-hack-with-at-least-96-vulcan-forged-wallets-affected","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/vulcan-forged","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://coincodex.com/crypto/vulcan-forged/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://decrypt.co/88177/hacker-steals-140-million-polygon-gaming-platform-nft-marketplace-vulcan-forged","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/12/14/gaming-platform-vulcan-forged-refunds-users-after-140m-hack","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://forkast.news/headlines/vulcan-forged-replaces-token-stolen-hack/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/09/21/play-to-earn-gaming-platform-vulcan-forged-raises-8m-in-series-a-funding","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://skynet.certik.com/projects/vulcanforged","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/vulcan-forged-pyr-rallies-after-virtual-land-sales-and-the-elysium-testnet-launch","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://skynet.certik.com/projects/vulcanforged","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/vulcan-forged","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://blog.vulcanforged.com/forge-on-into-2025-a-recap-and-looking-ahead/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://vulcanforged.com/Home/ComingSoon","type":"other","url":""}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"Vulcan Forged is a UK-based blockchain gaming studio and NFT marketplace operating on Polygon and its own Elysium Layer-1 blockchain, best known for VulcanVerse and its native PYR token. In December 2021 the platform suffered one of the largest gaming-sector hacks on record: an attacker exploited Vulcan Forged's servers to extract private keys from 96 semi-custodial wallets, stealing approximately 4.5 million PYR tokens then valued at roughly $140 million. The platform subsequently refunded affected users from its treasury and pledged to migrate to non-custodial wallets, but the incident exposed fundamental centralization and custodial risks in its architecture.","timeline":[{"date":"2019-01-01","event":"Vulcan Forged founded by Jamie Thomson as a small NFT art site, initially with two employees.","source":""},{"date":"2021-05-14","event":"Vulcan Forged listed on CertiK Skynet for security monitoring.","source":""},{"date":"2021-11-30","event":"PYR token reaches all-time high of approximately $41.72.","source":""},{"date":"2021-12-12","event":"Attacker exploits Vulcan Forged servers, obtains Venly credentials, and extracts private keys from 96 MyForge semi-custodial wallets. Approximately 4.5 million PYR (~$140M), ETH, and MATIC are stolen. Venly confirms all export calls originated from Vulcan Forged's own IP address.","source":""},{"date":"2021-12-13","event":"Vulcan Forged publicly discloses the hack. CEO Jamie Thomson confirms the server exploit. PYR drops over 30% within 24 hours, market cap falls from ~$612M to ~$397M.","source":""},{"date":"2021-12-14","event":"Vulcan Forged refunds affected users with PYR and LAVA from the project treasury within approximately 24 hours of disclosure. Platform announces transition to non-custodial wallets.","source":""},{"date":"2022-01-28","event":"Elysium blockchain testnet launched, described as 'the blockchain for Metaverses.'","source":""},{"date":"2022-09-21","event":"Vulcan Forged raises $8 million in a Series A funding round led by SkyBridge Capital, with an option for an additional $33 million.","source":""},{"date":"2023-02-10","event":"CertiK completes a second audit of Vulcan Forged smart contracts, finding zero critical or high-severity findings in the reviewed code. Only 27.49% of codebase covered.","source":""},{"date":"2023-03-06","event":"New Elysium blockchain LAVA token airdropped to wallets following a snapshot from March 1, 2023.","source":""},{"date":"2024-03-01","event":"PYR reaches secondary high of approximately $10.79 during broader crypto market recovery.","source":""},{"date":"2025-06-01","event":"PYR declines to approximately $0.78, representing a greater than 98% decline from all-time high.","source":""},{"date":"2025-11-25","event":"KuCoin removes margin trading access for PYR.","source":""},{"date":"2026-05-01","event":"PYR trading at approximately $0.26, down over 99% from all-time high. Vulcan Forged main website shows 'Coming Soon' page.","source":""}]},"v":1}