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.
In addition to ETHTrustFund, different latest rug pulls in crypto embody Gemholic and Ordiz, exhibiting rising fraud danger.
In a troubling improvement for cryptocurrency buyers, 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 latest stories by 0ctoshi, recommend that the venture executed a deliberate exit rip-off.
In line with an in depth report by blockchain safety agency PeckShield, ETHTrustFund transferred its whole treasury to a brand new pockets on July 20, 2024.
The funds had been subsequently moved by mixer functions, akin 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 value 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 initiatives like Olympus and Wonderland, initially attracted buyers with guarantees of a singular rebase mechanism.
The venture was designed to supply blockchain-based bonds and subject new ETF tokens to customers who staked their holdings.
Not like conventional rebaseDAOs that frequently inflate their token provide, ETHTrustFund aimed to ultimately debase its tokens to extend the worth of the remaining provide, producing yield for its buyers.
Nevertheless, the venture’s trajectory took a dramatic flip when lead developer Peng reportedly ceased communication with the neighborhood in April.
In line with 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 difficulty on July 21, 2024, reporting that the venture had moved over $2 million from its treasury to a contemporary pockets, and was draining the funds by way of Railgun Undertaking.
The venture’s official Telegram and social media accounts, beforehand managed by Peng, had been deleted.
Within the wake of those revelations, Octoshi urged the neighborhood to report the rip-off on Chainabuse, a platform devoted to documenting and combating fraudulent actions within the crypto area.
The Chainabuse report, created by person @cryptogle, confirmed the allegations and emphasised the venture’s abrupt disappearance.
The wake of exit scams in crypto
ETHTrustFund’s incident follows a sequence 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 instances spotlight the persistent danger of rug pulls within the quickly evolving cryptocurrency panorama, underscoring the necessity for vigilance and thorough due diligence amongst buyers.
