PopcornSwap Exit Scam
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PopcornSwap launched a project with a backdoor which allowed them to take user funds. (Part of a migration contract that is standard in PancakeSwap at this time.)
They decided they wanted to take everyone's funds. Since they were anonymous, nobody managed to hunt them down to get the funds back.
This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
About PopcornSwap
"At the end of January, an exit scam was carried out by the PopcornSwap project, also based on the BSC blockchain, appropriating $ 2 million from liquidity pools." "PopcornSwap performed a liquidity siphon scam. This was nearly an instant rug-pull upon launch, stealing custody of over 2,000,000 USD in users’ tokens." "This was nearly an instant rug-pull upon launch, stealing custody of over 2,000,000 USD in users’ tokens merely three hours after their first Twitter post."
"Almost all the forks from PancakeSwap inherited a back door called the “Migrator” that allowed the dev to take all the staked assets in the farms. Yes, I’m not joking, PancakeSwap can really take all your staked assets if they really wanted to. I’m not suggesting they will, but its in their power to do so." "This was a legacy feature that came from SushiSwap on Ethereum because they needed to forcibly “migrate” Uniswap LPs into their own SushiSwap LP."
"Weibo user "Super Bitcoin" stated that another DeFi mine popcornswap on the Binance Smart Chain has gone. It is reported that some users said in the community that the project used cake's LP, the contract was open source but there was no audit, and the LP was run in less than two hours. Currently, there are more than 40,000 BNB in the wallet and no action is taken."
"The project has now deleted all media and website pages, going ghost."
"According to Wu, Binance executives wondered if they should take any steps in this situation. As Wu writes in his article, Binance said the security team is "watching" the Popcornswap project but may not be able to succeed. Previously, Binance made a statement that it is unlikely that it will be possible to recover funds, and users should carefully choose projects for investment. Thus, at the moment, the responsibility rests with the users themselves."
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.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| January 28th, 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 $2,108,000 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
Having a single address by an anonymous person able to take everyone's funds is not a suitable strategy to protect those funds.
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.
References
- ↑ DeFi project TurtleDex completed an exit scam - World Stock Market (Jun 20, 2021)
- ↑ SlowMist Hacked - SlowMist Zone (May 18, 2021)
- ↑ Binance Coin (BNB) Today Historical Price Data | DigitalCoinPrice (Jul 10, 2021)
- ↑ PopcornSwap Liquidity Siphon Rugpull (Jul 10, 2021)
- ↑ @news_of_bsc Twitter (Jul 10, 2021)
- ↑ PopcornSwap Liquidity Siphon Rugpull (Jul 10, 2021)
- ↑ Goose Finance First To Remove Rugpull Migrator Code (Jul 10, 2021)
- ↑ Popcornswap, SharkYield, Zap Finance, Tin Finance, Multi Financial — осторожно (Jul 10, 2021)
- ↑ Worldwide crypto & NFT rug pulls and scams tracker - Comparitech (Dec 15, 2022)