The disappearance of funds, the website, and social media accounts for the platform RiskOnBlast, which is based on the Layer-2 ecosystem Blast, has brought to light the first rug-pull scam within the Blast ecosystem. According to blockchain data analysis platform Arkham Intelligence, the funds on RiskOnBlast appeared to have been withdrawn on February 25th, subsequently dropping to zero.
The First Rug-pull in the Blast Ecosystem
The GambleFi project had raised 420 Ethereum, valued at $1.25 million, for a pre-sale event of a token called RISK that started on February 22nd and ended the next day. However, since then, the team has moved the funds in DAI batches to ChangeNOW, an unregulated crypto exchange.
Furthermore, Etherscan marked the project’s address as a phishing scam, warning users to be cautious when interacting with this address. Coinbase technology leader Andrew Choi was among those who issued a warning about the disappearance of the project’s website and social media presence on February 25th.
On February 25th, blockchain detective Amir Ormu reported that the RiskOnBlast team used ChangeNOW as a mixer to hide the transaction trail, laundering $850,000 of the stolen funds through a crypto mixer. The funds were also sent to MEXC and Bybit exchanges.
Since then, the crypto community has come together to help track the funds following the alleged rug-pull incident. NFT investor MoonCat2878, one of the rug-pull victims who lost $12,500, donated 1 Ethereum to blockchain detective ZachXBT, who had previously worked on tracking and recovering stolen crypto assets.
Blast Team Promises Airdrop
According to screenshots shared by users, RiskOnBlast was announced by the Blast team on February 12th. The small three-person team behind the blockchain project, whose identities have not been disclosed to the public, added a red flag.
The Blast protocol was introduced as a scaling solution for the Ethereum network, offering native returns to users who deposited funds. The project was announced in mid-November and has since gained a total value of $2 billion, and has been largely followed by airdrop hunters since the platform promised an airdrop in May. During this period, the platform struggled with some errors and controversies in the months following its announcement.
