Security Researchers Save $500K Worth of NFTs Following Flooring Protocol Breach
Data from CoinGecko and NFT Price Floor indicates the NFT market capitalization has declined from its April peak, though CryptoPunks and BAYC continue to dominate as the highest-valued collections.
Developers associated with Yuga Labs successfully recovered 68 non-fungible tokens from the Flooring Protocol following a security breach that threatened NFTs from prominent collections such as Bored Apes and CryptoPunks.
On Monday, Yuga Labs CEO Michael Figge announced that the retrieved NFTs are currently being held by the company and will be returned to their rightful owners after a comprehensive solution has been established.
According to 0xQuit, Yuga's pseudonymous vice president of blockchain, the successful recovery operation secured digital assets valued at over $500,000.
Even with the broader NFT market experiencing a cooldown period, certain collections continue to maintain substantial floor prices. At the time of reporting, CryptoPunks maintained a floor price of approximately 32.7 ETH ($54,612), while Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs were trading at roughly 9.16 ETH, based on CoinGecko data.
Flooring Protocol was already winding down
The security breach impacted a protocol that was already in the process of shutting down portions of its consumer-facing NFT operations.
In September 2025, Floor Protocol announced that its Web3 consumer services would be entering sunset mode and recommended that FPv2 token holders redeem their NFTs and withdraw from fractional positions prior to Oct. 15, 2025.
According to former CEO FreeLunchCapital, the protocol experienced liquidity challenges and organizational restructuring that resulted in certain parts of the NFT division being left without proper management.
FreeLunchCapital explained that they had maintained liquidity provision and retained some of their personal NFT assets on the platform to facilitate user withdrawals, noting that these assets became a principal target when the exploit occurred.
FreeLunchCapital stated they are currently engaged in discussions with the parent group overseeing the management team in an effort to regain control of the protocol.
NFT market remains far below peak levels
Although it has declined significantly from its highest point, the NFT market continues to represent billions of dollars in total value. According to CoinGecko data, the overall NFT market capitalization rose to approximately $2 billion during late April and early May before declining back to approximately $1.4 billion by Monday.
Data from NFT Price Floor revealed that CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club continue to hold their positions as the two largest NFT collections measured by market capitalization.
CryptoPunks maintained a market capitalization of approximately 339,400 ETH (roughly $560 million), while BAYC registered at around 90,590 ETH ($150 million).