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Fake NFT Project Hack? CTO Vanishes After Allegedly Stealing 94 SOL

A new rug pull alert sounded on Tuesday after crypto detective ZachXBT unveiled on-chain details of an alleged hack suffered by an NFT project last month. The project’s CTO announced that a response was in the works but ultimately vanished as criticism grew.

Nuddies NFT, A Hack Or Rug Pull?

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT revealed the alleged misuse of funds by the CTO of NFT project Nuddies NFT.  In a now-deleted post, its CTO Kyle explained that the project was “derugged from its previous founder” and built differently from other NFT projects.

According to the crypto detective, Kyle faked a hack that seemingly stole the project’s funds. On March 3, the alleged culprit posted on the Nuddies NFT Discord server, informing us of the hack.

The post affirmed that Kyle’s Mac was hacked despite “not clicking in any malicious link.” The CTO concluded that a “zombie process” was on his computer for an undetermined period.

This “mini-program” gave control of the computer to “the hacker.” Through the TeamViewer app the attacker gained access to the project and Kyle’s wallets. The post further explained that 90 SOL, approximately $17,000 at today’s price, were taken from the Nuddies NFT creator wallet.

Moreover, the hacker allegedly took control of Kyle’s Discord and stole 150 SOL, worth around $28,300, from his wallets. At the time, he claimed to be “mentally destroyed” by the loss of the project’s treasury money.

SOL, SOLUSDT; NFT, crypto

Nonetheless, the on-chain data compiled by ZachXBT tells a different story. Per the crypto detective’s post, the CTO allegedly lied to the holders and stole the 94 SOL, worth $12,000, when the incident occurred.

The post reveals that the funds were transferred during that day from the Nuddies Royalty Wallet to an exchange deposit at 8:20 UTC. The on-chain investigator claims that a destination transaction was found using time analysis. The transaction to one of Kyle’s wallets accounted for 3.42 ETH, around $11,700, at 8:21 UTC.

The ETH was seemingly used to buy two NFTs: DeGods 2921 and y00t 10991. The DeGod NFT was used as the CTO’s profile picture on X until yesterday.

CTO Answers The Accusations, Then Vanishes

The accusations didn’t go unnoticed by the suspect, who posted on his X account that he was “preparing the answer” with a wink face emoji. After changing his profile picture, Kyle answered some users’ questions about his credibility, to which he replied that his “conscience is clear.”

crypto, nft

In the early hours of Wednesday, Nuddies NFT account shared a now-deleted post informing that the creator wallet was “refilled with 12k USD.” In the post, Kyle reassured that his previous claims of intending to refill the wallet were authentic.

The CTO also claimed he was “waiting for his $W airdrop” to fulfill his promise instead of selling his DeAsset. Additionally, he “stepped out” of the project after giving the access keys to two community members.

crypto, SOL, NFT

However, the story doesn’t end there. Kyle and Nuddies NFT’s account were deleted a couple of hours after the post. The Nuddies website seems not to be working, as reported by an X user.

The project’s future is unsure as one of the community members to whom Kyle gave the access keys was unaware of the situation. Juiceddd, an NFT artist, is one of the two people in charge of the project.

The artist explained that he was responsible for redrawing the entire Nuddies collection while adding “70+ new traits.” Moreover, Juiceddd stated that he “woke up this morning to being the owner of everything.” The artist is contemplating giving his perspective on the incident as he considers that it is generally the artist who “gets fucked” in these situations.

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Yearn Finance Tumbles: Rug Pull Rumors Swirl As Token Takes A 45% Hit

Recent data analysis reveals a significant decline in the performance of YFI, the native token of the Yearn Finance platform. In a dramatic overnight development, the native token of the Yearn Finance ecosystem witnessed a staggering 40% plunge.

This downturn in YFI’s performance prompts a closer examination of the intricate dynamics within the decentralized financial landscape. The abrupt and substantial drop has ignited a wave of speculation within the community, with some expressing concerns about the possibility of an exit scam.

Much of its recent profits was wiped by the slump. Investors quickly sold off their holdings in YFI in response to the wider selloff that had shook the cryptocurrency market as a whole, which caused a sudden shift in value.

Yearn Finance Suffers An Apparent Exit Scam

As users seek to navigate and capitalize on the potential returns of the crypto market, the fluctuations in YFI’s value underscore the inherent volatility and complexity of DeFi environments.

Specifically, YFI plummeted from $15,450 to $8,950 within a mere 24-hour period. This sharp and rapid descent represents a substantial loss of $6,510 in the value of YFI.

The price of YFI has seen a noteworthy rising trend during the last seven days. The asset was trading at almost $9,000 just a week ago. But it quickly gained momentum and by Friday, it had reached its highest price point in more than a year—above the $15,000 level.

In a matter of hours, the market capitalization experienced a significant decline, with almost $250 million disappearing. The market cap plummeted from $525 million to $275 million. It is once again seeing an upward trend; however, investor sentiment has been negatively impacted by the abrupt decline.

The recent sell-off has incited a weekend characterized by fear, uncertaintly and doubt (FUD) among members of the cryptocurrency community.

According to certain users on X (formerly known as Twitter), there are assertions made regarding the distribution of the token supply, suggesting that 50% of the tokens were held within 10 wallets under the supervision of engineers.

Nevertheless, according to data from Etherscan, it is indicated that a portion of these holders could potentially be wallets associated with cryptocurrency exchanges.

The rollercoaster ride in YFI’s market hasn’t just been a wild descent; it’s been a game-changer for crypto traders riding the waves of this digital asset’s fortune.

Crypto Holders Lose Nearly $5 Million

According to insights from derivative market tracker, CoinGlass, the recent nosedive in YFI has left crypto enthusiasts nursing a whopping $4.99 million in losses through liquidations.

Those traders who wagered on YFI’s upward trajectory found themselves taking the most substantial hit in the aftermath of the digital asset’s dramatic crash. It’s not just numbers on a chart; it’s a tale of high-stakes bets and unforeseen twists in the ever-unpredictable world of crypto trading.

Zooming in on the details, according to CoinGlass data, the brunt of the blow in the near $5 million total liquidations is borne by long positions, tallying up to a substantial $3.5 million in losses.

The majority of these traders find themselves navigating the aftermath on platforms such as the giant Binance, alongside participants from Bybit and OKX.

It’s a vivid snapshot into the crypto battleground, where the casualties of this market turbulence are felt by those who took bullish positions, and the ripples extend across some of the most prominent exchanges in the digital arena.

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from Markus Spiske/Unsplash

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GROK Memecoin Faces 40% Drop As Expert Exposes Scammer’s Involvement

Grok (GROK) token, inspired by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence service through X (formerly Twitter), has recently come under scrutiny following explosive growth in market capitalization. 

According to recent reports, Grok zoomed to a staggering $160 million market cap within just eight days of its release. However, reports of alleged scam involvement have overshadowed the token’s rapid ascent.

GROK Meteoric Rise Marred By Scammer Accusations

Grok token prices have soared, doubling within the past 24 hours alone, extending a week-long rally that has seen an astonishing 13,000% increase. The token boasts an impressive 11,000 holders and has witnessed a trading volume of over $60 million over the past 24 hours, according to data from DEXTools.

GROK

However, ZachXBT, a self-proclaimed crypto detective, has raised concerns about the legitimacy of Grok, stating that the token was created by a scammer. ZachXBT has stated that the same X/Twitter account associated with Grok has been linked to at least one other fraudulent scheme. ZachXBT stated:

Not that people in this space will care but GROKERC20 GROK was created by a scammer. Same exact X/Twitter account has been reused for at least one other scam. X/Twitter ID: 1690060301465714692

Satoshi Flipper, another prominent crypto trader on X, echoed this sentiment, labeling Grok as an “effing scam” and emphasizing that Elon Musk did not authorize the token’s launch. Satoshi Flipper said:

This is Grok. $1.9M liquidity and a $137M market cap? What an effing scam. Not only that, it’s completely fraudulent to trade this knowing Elon Musk, the owner of Grok, did not authorize these devs to launch a token. Imagine touching this toxic trash.

Experts from Arkham Intelligence also weighed in, reporting that an on-chain trader sold a significant amount of GROK at nearly 40% slippage, reinforcing the scam allegations made by ZachXBT.

The controversy surrounding Grok has raised concerns within the cryptocurrency community. Critics argue that the token’s market cap, coupled with the lack of authorization from Elon Musk, raises red flags. 

Impressive Turnaround

The token’s market cap has undergone a retracement, now at $108 million, down from its previous value of $160 million. Additionally, the token exhibits a liquidity of $1.83 million. 

GROK

Despite experiencing a substantial slippage of 48%, with its price dropping as low as $0.0056000, the token has remarkably recuperated and is now trading at $0.0108452.

It is yet to be determined whether further reports will surface to shed light on the individuals behind the token’s creation and their objectives, potentially exposing the risk of a rug pull within the cryptocurrency industry. 

However, despite these allegations, the token has attracted significant attention and excitement from investors eager to participate in the potential surge of the next major meme coin, aiming to achieve substantial gains in their investments. As of the time of writing, the Grok official account on X has not made any statements regarding these allegations.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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Crypto Halloween Nightmare: MEME, MEMEPAD, And TITANX Tokens Collapse, Traders Lose 100%

In a chilling development on Halloween Day, the crypto community was hit with disturbing news as PeckShield, a renowned blockchain security company, revealed a series of rug pulls over the past few hours.

Rug pulls, a form of cryptocurrency scam, involve sudden and deliberate value drops in specific tokens, accompanied by the perpetrators swapping the native tokens for Ethereum (ETH). The meme coins affected by the rug pulls were identified as MEME, MEMEPAD, and TITANX.

Multiple Rug Pulls Shake Crypto Market On Halloween

According to PeckShield’s X (formerly Twitter) post, the MEME token on the Ethereum blockchain experienced a jaw-dropping 100% drop in value. The address 0xBd72…5871 was responsible for swapping a staggering 4,854,740,126,240,000 MEME tokens for approximately 43.68 ETH. 

It is important to note that the rug pull token shared the same name as the legitimate MEME token, adding to the confusion.

Similarly, the MEMEPAD token on Ethereum suffered an identical 100% value drop. The address 0xBd72…5871 conducted a swap of 4,854,740,126,240,000 MEMEPAD tokens for around 44.84 ETH. 

Crypto

Once again, the fraudulent crypto rug pull shared the same name as the genuine MEMEPAD token, compounding the deceitful nature of the scam.

Additionally, the TITANX token launched two days ago, October 28, on Ethereum experienced a staggering 100% value decline. 

The address 0xBd72…5871 executed a swap of 4,854,740,126,240,000 TITANX tokens for approximately 46 ETH. Mirroring the previous instances, the rug pull token masqueraded under the same name as the legitimate TITANX crypto token.

Fantom Foundation Funds Vanish

In alarming events, the Fantom (FTM) Foundation finds itself entangled in a harrowing tale of fund drains and swift token swaps. PeckShield has reported two significant incidents involving the Fantom Foundation’s finances, leaving the organization with substantial losses.

The first incident occurred on October 17, 2023, when wallets associated with the Fantom Foundation were drained of approximately $7 million worth of cryptocurrencies, equivalent to around 4,500 ETH.

Additionally, on October 26, the Fantom Foundation faced another devastating event. An unidentified entity, the “Fantom Foundation Drainer,” executed a bold move by swapping a staggering 8,087,377.97 DAI for 4,560.52 ETH. 

The gravity of the situation intensified when the Fantom Foundation Drainer swiftly executed another swap on October 30, converting the 4,560.52 ETH back into approximately 8.3 million DAI within a mere 30 minutes. 

The Fantom Foundation is now faced with the daunting task of investigating the breaches, identifying the culprits, and fortifying its security infrastructure to prevent future incidents. 

Crypto

Despite recent developments, the native token of the Fantom protocol, FTM, is trading at $0.2388, reflecting a 1% increase in the past 24 hours. 

Notably, the token has experienced a substantial surge across various time frames. Presently, it has maintained an upward trend, with gains of over 6% and 30% in the seven-day and fourteen-day periods, respectively. 

Over the year-to-date period, the token has recorded a 5% increase. These figures indicate the token’s positive performance and growth trajectory.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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PEPE Price Spikes 10% Following Community Address On Rumored Rug Pull

The value of PEPE, one of the most promising assets in the second quarter of 2023, has been faltering in recent weeks. According to CoinGecko data, the meme coin has been in a 33.6% price decline in the last 14 days.

The PEPE price took a significant hit in the past week, tumbling by more than 20% in a matter of hours. This negative price action was triggered by the rumors of a rug pull orchestrated by the project deployers. 

On Thursday, August 24, about $16 million worth of Pepe tokens were moved from the developers’ multi-sig wallet to various crypto exchanges, spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) across the community.

The team behind the meme coin has now published an announcement, addressing the community on what happened in the past few days.

‘Three Rouge Ex-Team Members Responsible For $16 Million Withdrawal’

On Saturday, August 26, one of the anonymous developers behind the Pepe project shed more light on the mysterious $16 million withdrawal from the project’s multi-sig wallet via a post on the official X (formerly Twitter) account.

According to the team member, three ex-team members initiated a series of unexpected withdrawal transactions and transferred the “stolen” Pepe tokens to various crypto exchanges.

A part of the community address explained:

The multi-sig (wallet) was set up to require 3/4 signers present for an approval. Yesterday these 3 ex-team members came back behind my back, logged onto the multi-sig, stole 16 Trillion/ 60% of the 26 trillion multi-sig tokens, and sent them to exchanges to sale. They then removed themselves from the multi sig in an attempt to absolve any association to $PEPE, deleting all of their social accounts and leaving me behind nothing but a message stating “the multi-sig (wallet) has been updated, you are now in full control.”

The anonymous developer established that these former members have been difficult to work with since the inception of the Pepe project. “There has often been conflict, and the majority of the team involved in $PEPE creation started to distance themselves after the first week of project inception”, they said.

While apologizing for the inconvenience and losses caused by the “bad actors,” the project member claims that the remaining 10 trillion Pepe tokens in the multi-sig are “safe” and out of the reach of “nefarious” ex-team members.

Unsurprisingly, the online crypto community had mixed reactions to the project developer’s address. While some individuals seemed convinced by the team member’s account, others raised questions about the sincerity of the claims.

PEPE Jumps By Nearly 10% – Is A Recovery On?

The value of PEPE reacted positively to this address, surging by about 9.6% to reach $0.000000956641. Although it has experienced some correction, the meme coin’s price is still well (roughly 9%) above its seven-day low of $0.000000824545 reached in the early hours of Friday, August 25.

As inferred earlier, panic-induced selling was primarily responsible for the recent PEPE price crash. With confidence seemingly restored, investors will likely be banking on a price recovery.

Fortunately, the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI), an indicator that tracks the balance between the buying and selling pressure of a token, is in the oversold zone for the first time ever. When in the oversold region, the RSI often signals that a trend reversal is on the horizon.

According to CoinGecko data, PEPE currently trades at $0.000000898317, registering a 1.4% price jump in the last 24 hours. With a market cap of roughly $375.9, the meme coin is the 97th-largest cryptocurrency on the market.

PEPE

 

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$6.4 Million Lost In Latest Base-Native DeFi Protocol Rug Pull

Magnate Finance, a DeFi lending protocol on the Ethereum layer-2 network Base, is reported to have conducted a rug pull, robbing its users of $6.4 million worth of assets. This event represents the latest troubling incident on the Base network in merely a month of its official mainnet launch.

3 Rug Pulls, $16.7 Million Lost – Who’s Responsible? 

On Friday, August 25, blockchain security intelligence Peckshield confirmed Magnate Finance’s rug pull, stating that the project developers manipulated the provider of the price oracle, allowing them to withdraw all assets of the platform.

Peckshield also provided more information on the scammers’ movement, stating that they had transferred $1.34 worth of DAI to a new address while also bridging $1 million of the loot to the BNB chain. 

The majority of the stolen funds have been transferred to other Ethereum layer 2 solutions such as Optimism and Arbitrum. Meanwhile, the $1.3 million DAI and an additional 295 ETH, valued at around $486,000, remain on the Base Network. 

Interestingly, a few hours before the Magnate Finance rug pull occurred, an X user and on-chain investigator, ZachXBT, posted a community alert stating the possibility of such an event. 

ZachXBT’s suspicion was based on the fact that the deployer address of Magnate Finance received some funds from the Solifire’s $4.8 million rug pull that occurred in January 2022. 

In addition, the deployer address of Magnate Finance is also linked to the Kokomo Finance $5.5 million exit scam in March 2023. In total, the developers of the Base DeFi lending protocol have been involved in three rug pulls that have resulted in the loss of $16.7 million of user funds.

At the time of writing, Magnate Finance has deleted its Telegram group, as well as disabled its official website. In addition, the project’s X account has also been deactivated, wiping all of its online and social media presence in what has been a “classic rug pull.”

Another Setback For Base?

The early days of the Base Network in the crypto space have been anything but smooth sailing. Prior to the network’s public launch on August 9, BALD, a memecoin project on the Coinbase native network, was exposed as a rug pull after developers withdrew $25.6 million of the project’s liquidity. 

Since then, there have been more negative occurrences within the Base ecosystem, with the Rocketswap DEX losing over $450,000 via “brute force hack,” while 342 ETH, valued at $626,000, has also been stolen from LeetSwap, another Base-native DEX.

However, it is worth stating that the Base Network has also recorded some positives in its short time of operation. According to data from L2Beat data, Base ranks as the fourth most active layer two solution with a daily transaction per second value of 7.73.

In addition, where the general total DeFi ecosystem has taken a dive below the $40 billion mark, Base has shown much resilience. Using data from DefiiLama, the project’s TVL gained by 11.02%  in the last week and is now valued at $185.81 million. 

Base

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BALD Coin Rug Pull: How A $100 Million Memecoin Became Worthless Overnight

On July 30, a meme coin called BaldBaseBald (BALD) launched on Base Network, Coinbase’s new Layer 2 built on Optimism. The coin referenced Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s “bald” founder, and quickly became a coordination point for speculators on the frontier chain. 

Within two days, the token had reached a market cap of $100 million, with over $25 million in liquidity. However, the token’s meteoric rise turned out to be a classic case of market manipulation, as the deployer behind the token, BaldBaseBald, rug pulled the token and caused its price to plummet by 85%.

Malicious Market Behavior Behind BALD?

Market researcher Thiccy indexed all the transactions from the Bald deployer and uncovered a story of malicious market behavior. BaldBaseBald added over 6,700 ETH, or over $12.5 million worth of liquidity, to the pool in the first 24 hours, a surprising amount of capital for a meme coin on a new chain. 

The deployer’s actions were undoubtedly bullish for speculators, and many people speculated that Brian Armstrong had created the coin to drum up hype. However, as soon as the deployer stopped adding liquidity to the pool, the price stagnated and broke down. 

BALD

24 hours later, the deployer started bidding on BALD again, causing the price to double. Then, the deployer withdrew over 10.500 Ethereum (ETH), or almost $20 million worth of liquidity, leading to an 85% drop in the token’s value.

Thiccy’s analysis showed that the deployer had made a net profit of 2,789 ETH, or 5.2 million dollars, after adding 6,870 ETH, spending 1,360 ETH buying at an average price of 0.0004, and withdrawing 10,704 ETH. 

It was surprising how well-capitalized the actor was and how bold they were in carrying out this apparent manipulative market behavior in the middle of the public light on Coinbase’s compliance chain. Thiccy Concluded:

And with that, the story of BALD has come to a close play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Hopefully we can learn from this as a space this market is rife with market manipulation and unethical shills. Be careful who you trust.

Thiccy advises investors to control their Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and not risk more than they can afford to lose, as survival is too important in this game. 

As for BaldBaseBald has removed the rest of the liquidity, bringing their total Profit and Loss (PnL) to 3,163 ETH, or $5.9 million. 

BALD

Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com