With the optimistic phase in the cryptocurrency market, Layer-1 network Solana, among many ecosystems, encountered a surge in user interest. However, during this period, the disabling of social media accounts by Solana’s ecosystem, following the lost fund reports of MangoFarmSOL, brought up concerns of a rug-pull scam, causing fear and anxiety especially within the Solana network.
How Did the Process Start?
MangoFarmSOL, was introduced to users as a farming protocol on Solana, promising “unique yields in the SOL space”. According to a Medium post published on January 5th, the distribution of MANGO tokens was scheduled for January 10th, and users had to deposit Solana into the protocol to participate in the event.
The pseudonymous developer of Delegate, “Foobar”, warned on January 6th that the project’s front end was at risk. Recently appointed as the security auditor of MangoFarmSOL, Foobar responded to users’ questions about what happened to the protocol by suggesting it could be a rug-pull scam.
MangoFarmSOL’s official profile and website were shut down. A Telegram channel with over 1,000 subscribers is no longer accepting members. The estimated losses in this incident are around 2 million dollars.
Alarming Developments in the Solana Ecosystem
Users on shared images of messages reportedly left by the developer behind the scam. The images show the developer claiming they were coerced into creating a Ponzi scheme and were involved with another Solana-based staking protocol, BananaMiner. However, representatives of BananaMiner denied any connection with MangoFarmSOL:
“I manage all communication for BananaMiner and I assure you that Mango has nothing to do with us. They even asked me to help them with their project and I explained to them that there was a conflict of interest, please do not spread such false rumors and do your research well next time.”
Solana ecosystem has recently become the target of scammers using wallet drainers. Since December, the increase in attacks has highlighted cybercriminals selling Solana drainer kits. According to blockchain security firm Chainalysis, one of the largest online communities for SOL wallet drainer kits has more than 6,000 members.
