Evolved Apes Rug Pull

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Evolved Apes

The Evolved Apes NFTs were overseen by an anonymous individual, who didn't even pay the artist who made them. In addition to the NFTs, the development of a game was promised. After collecting the funds from various individuals around the world, they simply disappeared. The community has vowed to rebuild the project as Fight Back Apes. Progress continues.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About Evolved Apes

"Welcome to evolved apes, the place where we pay homage to our long lost brainless relatives. Ten thousand brain dead neanderthals have spawned on the face of planet earth. All in one place, watch as the chaos unfolds. In this uncontrolled wasteland, you have two choices fight or die. Those brave enough to enter this kingdom, these are your requirements."

"Equality does not exist in this kingdom, you will be judged on what you possess. That is why we have created a rarity system to help differentiate between which apes will be destined for the win. There are 100 total traits in the kingdom and these have been associated as either common, uncommon, rare or super rare. Depending on how unique your trait is the more power you will possess in the kingdom."

"Evolved Apes is described on NFT marketplace OpenSea as “a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs trapped inside a lawless land.” They are “fighting for survival, only the strongest ape will prevail,” it says."

"Do I own the Evolved Ape after purchasing? Yes, full intellectual properties are given to the buyer."

"The science team at EvolvedApe will be working on helping these brain dead Neanderthals develop basic functions. A serum will be airdropped to all holders of the project, allowing them to take their ape to the next phase of evolution. Will it work, that’s the question that’s been bothering everyone at the Ape labs…."

"Indeed, “Evolved Apes” had been one of the hyped NFT mints recently, with the 10,000-strong collection reportedly selling out in 10 minutes and the floor price rising steadily following the swift sale." "In addition to the cards, the developer, known to the community under the pseudonym Evil Ape, has promised to release a blockchain fighting game about the opposition of these creatures, “abandoned in lawless land”."

"However, the project’s storefront on OpenSea shows a tanked floor price of 0.005 ETH, significantly lower than the original minting cost. The decline in the floor price is no doubt linked to the current rug pull scandal rocking the project."

"Some investors have pointed out the misalignments with the project, stating that they were suspicious after investors noticed unprofessional announcements after the public sale on September 24."

"Going by the moniker “Evil Ape,” the developer has allegedly lived up to the name by vanishing with 798 Ether (ETH) worth over $2.7 million from the project’s coffers." "Evolved Apes, a collection of 10,000 Ape NFTs anonymous developers known as Evil Ape disappeared with NFTs worth 798 ETH."

"Just a week after the Evolved Ape is launched, the anonymous developer behind the project has seemingly disappeared and gone dark on social." "The official website and Twitter handles of Evolved Apes were deleted." "Apart from allegedly siphoning all the project’s money, Evil Ape also took down the “Evolved Apes’” Twitter account and website."

"Investors who participated in the Evolved Apes social media competition had not yet received their NFT prizes and took to the community’s Discord chat to ask questions. One investor, Mike_Cryptobull, spent over $10,000 USD on now a worthless digital drawing. In a report he wrote to others affected by the cut-and-run incident, he said, “What has happened is that Evil Ape has washed his hands of the project taking away the wallet with all the ETH from minting that was to be used for everything, from paying the artist, paying out cash giveaways, paying for marketing, paying for rarity tools, developing the game and everything else in between.”

"The artist behind the actual drawings was in fact not paid, despite hundreds of sales of over $50,000 USD were made. Each of the Apes also netted 4% in royalties. OpenSea has yet to respond and there is no word on the Evolved Apes creator." "Investors appointed Mike_Cryptobull as the head of this “mission” to understand what was going on."

"The result of his work was a PDF file in which he presented all the facts collected about the project, informing the rest of the sad news that Evil Ape, who is the head of the Evolved Apes, is most likely a scammer and controls the wallet with all the money collected as part of the project."

"Naturally, investors are left quite upset – despite the fact that the legality of this ‘theft’ is actually unclear. Why? Well, because those who invested did actually receive what they paid for – an NFT. The Evolved Apes NFT was eventually supposed to be usable in a fighting game. Rather than creating that, Evil Ape decided to bounce with the money. This rug pull is far from the first of its kind – but it is quite a notable one."

"But investors decided not to despair and continue to develop the idea of ​​Evolved Apes, calling it Fight Back Apes. Thus, the people who were promised to create a fighting game nevertheless became participants in the fight, but not with virtual monkeys, but with a very real scammer under the nickname Evil Ape."

"Some members of the NFT project are attempting to continue the development of the game, while efforts are underway to apprehend the alleged culprit." "Some members of the community have come together to continue the development of the project under the umbrella of “Fight Back Apes.”"

"The entities behind the new faction say they wish to create a more community-centric operating model for the project, including a multisig wallet, to prevent the repeat of another Evil Ape debacle." "With Evil Ape still receiving the 4% royalties on secondary sales, the current plan is to create a new project that will airdrop new NFTs to current holders."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Evolved Apes Rug Pull

Date	Event	Description
October 6th, 2021	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $2,700,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

General Prevention Policies

The funds were stored in the hands of an anonymous developer. Funds should be held in a multi-sig wallet by known and trusted entities who can be held to account.

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.