KEY POINTS
- SomaXBT said more than 750 investors invested in RiskOnBlast
- Multiple crypto security firms said the funds were already deposited to various exchanges
- There have been questions about whether Blast, being the endorser, should be held liable
A gambling and exchange project on Ethereum layer-2 platform Blast allegedly disappeared Sunday after raising hundreds of Ether (ETH) in what could be the first rug pull on the Blast ecosystem.
RiskOnBlast, purported to be a gambling and exchange platform, raised more than 420 ETH, worth around $1.25 million based on current prices, from investors and retail traders who believed in the platform's potential, according to multiple crypto security analysts.
The project's account on X (formerly Twitter) is no longer available, and its website has reportedly disappeared. The incident is said to be the first rug pull – an exit scam wherein a team raises funds from investors by selling a token only to vanish or quietly shut down – on the Blast ecosystem.
Web3 fraud researcher somaXBT wrote on X that more than 750 were victimized by the project. Some $497,000 were reportedly lent through crypto swapping service ChangeNOW, around $360,000 were deposited on the MEXC exchange, and some $187,000 was transferred to Bybit, as per somaXBT.
1.@Riskonblast rugged 420 ETH worth $1.25 million from 750+ victims.
— SomaXBT (@somaxbt) February 25, 2024
Scammers lent $497k through @ChangeNOW_io , $360k through @MEXC_Official and $187k through @Bybit_Official exchange
contract on L1
0x25f8C342E430C85829Ef5021C0720f0c60969840. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XK2w2gTo8X
Vulnerability analysis and malware defense firm PeckShield also flagged the incident, saying some of the funds were transferred to SideShift, while smaller amounts were bridged to Arbitrum and Cosmos.
#PeckShieldAlert Coindesk has reported that @Riskonblast has rugged 420 $ETH (~$1.3m).
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) February 26, 2024
Most of the stolen funds have already been transferred to #ChangeNow, #Bybit, #MEXC, and #SideShift. A small part of the stolen funds has been bridged to #Arbitrum & #Cosmos. #Blast_L2… pic.twitter.com/LEbRPLhiyk
Blockchain monitoring firm CertiK also said it saw an "exit scam on @riskonblast" over the weekend.
#CertiKSkynetAlert 🚨
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) February 26, 2024
Over the weekend we have seen an exit scam on @riskonblast with ~$1.3m taken from an IDO which was capped at 420 ETH
The project's X account and website were deleted and funds were distributed to multiple sources including Bybit and MEXC pic.twitter.com/NKO6HJSGwz
One investor reported a loss of $12,500 in the RiskOnBlast investment. "Expensive lesson learned," they wrote on X.
And this is exactly why I shared this message
— MoonCat2878 (@mooncat2878) February 25, 2024
I just got rugged for the first $ 12,500 investing in @riskonblast (they removed their account) and they rugged at least 500 ETH in total
Sucks to see it happening now already, I guess I will be sticking to the projects that won the… https://t.co/QGwX0qo68y
Another investor is said to have lost $10,000 on the project. "You know whose fault that is? Mine. It's part of the game onwards," user @TenaciousEth said with a fuming emoji.
Other X users have since weighed in on the rug pull incident, with some questioning whether the endorser, in this case Blast, should be "held responsible."
Rugged by #riskonblast. Ugh. Not a good look for @Blast_L2 seeing as they touted the project and even shilled it to their community. 👻☠️
— The Marcus 🚀 (@TheMarcus) February 25, 2024
One user said the project's vanishing act was "not a good look" for Blast after it endorsed RiskOnBlast. Another user noted that "many projects have emerged due to the Blast Big Bang event, which is a competition for developer teams that will see winners receiving an unspecified amount of funding in the coming months. "Always be cautious. This is a cryptocurrency world where scams are prevalent," the user warned.
Blast put RiskOnBlast's potential at "undeniable" when it announced that the project was among the joiners of its Big Bang developer competition.
A new challenger appears!
— Blast (@Blast_L2) February 13, 2024
Category - Gamblefi
Team - Risk
Potential - Undeniable
Stay tuned to see what they build for the BIG BANG Competition! https://t.co/gp0SAu8UPF
Blast has yet to provide an official statement regarding its first supposed rug pull project.
