- ETHTrustFund DAO allegedly stole $2M and laundered funds by way of mixer apps.
- Developer Peng went silent months earlier than the rug pull and deleted all accounts.
- Apart from ETHTrustFund, different current rug pulls in crypto embody Gemholic and Ordiz, exhibiting rising fraud threat.
In a troubling improvement for cryptocurrency traders, the ETHTrustFund DAO, a decentralized autonomous group (DAO) working on the Base community, has been accused of conducting a $2 million rug pull.
The allegations, substantiated by current studies by 0ctoshi, counsel that the mission executed a deliberate exit rip-off.
In response to an in depth report by blockchain safety agency PeckShield, ETHTrustFund transferred its complete treasury to a brand new pockets on July 20, 2024.
The funds have been subsequently moved by way of mixer purposes, comparable to Twister Money and Railgun, in an obvious try to obfuscate the path and launder the stolen belongings.
#PeckShieldAlert #rugpull @0ctoshi reported that @ethtrustfund_ rugged ~$2m price of cryptos on #Base.
The scammers have already bridged the stolen funds to #Ethereum & laundered them by way of #Tornadocash & #Railgun https://t.co/jmKVgiQb8C pic.twitter.com/MzJsvQ1pyV— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) July 22, 2024
The rise and fall of ETHTrustFund
ETHTrustFund, which had modeled itself after profitable tasks like Olympus and Wonderland, initially attracted traders with guarantees of a novel rebase mechanism.
The mission was designed to supply blockchain-based bonds and difficulty new ETF tokens to customers who staked their holdings.
Not like conventional rebaseDAOs that regularly inflate their token provide, ETHTrustFund aimed to ultimately debase its tokens to extend the worth of the remaining provide, producing yield for its traders.
Nonetheless, the mission’s trajectory took a dramatic flip when lead developer Peng reportedly ceased communication with the group in April.
In response to Octoshi, Peng’s inactivity, coupled with the sudden disappearance of ETHTrustFund’s on-line presence, together with its web site and social media accounts, pointed in direction of a possible exit rip-off.
Octoshi first highlighted the problem on July 21, 2024, reporting that the mission had moved over $2 million from its treasury to a contemporary pockets, and was draining the funds by way of Railgun Venture.
The mission’s official Telegram and social media accounts, beforehand managed by Peng, have been deleted.
Within the wake of those revelations, Octoshi urged the group to report the rip-off on Chainabuse, a platform devoted to documenting and combating fraudulent actions within the crypto house.
The Chainabuse report, created by person @cryptogle, confirmed the allegations and emphasised the mission’s abrupt disappearance.
The wake of exit scams in crypto
ETHTrustFund’s incident follows a collection of comparable scams within the crypto business.
In June, the Gemholic protocol confronted accusations of a $3.5 million exit rip-off, whereas March noticed the Ordiz bridge admin accounts executing a $1.4 million fraud.
These circumstances spotlight the persistent threat of rug pulls within the quickly evolving cryptocurrency panorama, underscoring the necessity for vigilance and thorough due diligence amongst traders.
