TurtleDEX, a DeFi project on BSC protocol, performed a rug pull exit scam. The protocol drained nearly $2.5 million. Moreover, the owners instantly deleted TurtleDex’s telegram, the official website, and the Twitter page. The exit scam happened just after their expected launch today. Users are now demanding that Binance suspend all wallets and repay the funds to concerned users until they locate the owners. Nevertheless, the exchange has not made any official remark at the moment.
TurtleDEX raised 9000 BNB tokens worth $2.5 million in a pre-sale round on March 15. Based on TurtleDEX team wallet transactions, the DeFi project emptied the raised amount from trading pools on Pancake Swap and Ape Swap and transformed the ETH liquidity. They then transferred the funds to Binance exchange wallets to be traded. A yield farming protocol, Jet Fuel Finance, collaborated with TurtleDex, affirmed the exit scam on Twitter and Medium.
Users raise question on Significance of Contract Audits in DeFi Ecosystem
The rug pull by TurtleDEX ignited massive controversy in the DeFi space, raising concern regarding the suitability of contract audits. TechRate, an analytical agency that concentrates on blockchain-based platforms, audited the protocol. The analysts did not discover rigorous security issues, and the project was probably safe. The community was outraged when they discovered out regarding the audit. Furthermore, a Chinese journalist, Colin Wu, published a chat with the admin of TurtleDex, speaking regarding rug pulls before. The admin appeared to joke about why turtles can’t rug pull. The team countered humorously by declaring that it would be impracticable, as a turtle’s arms are too small.
TurtleDex is not the first project introduced on Binance Smart Chain to rug pull. Earlier this month, $31 million was drained out of DeFi project Meerkat Finance’s vaults in what was apparently an attack by hackers. However, several investors consider it was a rug pull, following Meerkat Finance’s website and social media platforms blacked out. Meerkat’s developers then repaid the funds. Recently, in a freshly developed Telegram group named ‘Meerkatrefunds,’ a Meerkat developer calling themselves as “Jamboo” declared the whole thing was a ‘test.’ However, how much of a ‘test’ it was is up for speculation.
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