Just a day after being launched on crypto exchange giant Coinbase and its recently launched Base network, a new memecoin has already been labeled and deemed a “back pull” after the token deployer took $25.6 million in liquidity from the network. deleted.
BALD, which dropped yesterday, pokes fun at Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s lack of hair. And since yesterday’s stake, which saw a 3,000% increase in BALD’s total value, the coin is already down 92%, according to data from CoinGecko.
The Onchain Intrigue Telegram Channel, which monitors such activity, traced the wallet linked to the BALD token, revealing that the wallet went back to the decentralized exchange LeetSwap to buy more BALD tokens, while sending a very strange tweet at the same time which seems to lead users to buy more of the token – before removing all liquidity again.
After a number of accusations that the memecoin was a scam, that same account (@BaldBaseBald) denied all allegations that he sold the tokens, instead claiming to have “added/removed and purchased two sided liquidity”. However, another user contradicted this statement, insisting that the token had indeed been sold.
Cool story bro, but as you know, if you add 2-sided liquidity and the price rises, the AMM sells tokens in exchange for ETH in the pool.
So yes, you did indeed sell a lot of tokens and now have a lot more ETH.
I’m not judging you, just making it crystal clear.
— StealthElectronVIP (@StealthElectron) July 31, 2023
In a recent interview with decrypt, Matt Aaron, the project lead at Cielo, who oversees Onchain Intrigue, described this situation as “mysterious” because the wallet that moved the money was believed to be a “sophisticated whale” containing large amounts of Coinbase’s Ethereum liquid staking token cbETH, which can be bought, sold and traded for other digital assets.
Aaron also added that this same wallet “allegedly… KYC is their wallet on a centralized exchange.”
Crypto Twitter commentators have been closely following the unfolding events, with some even speculating that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried or another high-profile former FTX or Alameda executive could be the developer behind the ill-fated memecoin. Observers pointed to FTX and Alameda deposits in the developer’s transaction history for more than two years.
To summarize:
– Thousands of ETH between FTX and Bald
– Kale developer was the first voter on all sushi proposals
– Bare deployer tweets the same sentence structure as SBF
– Kale implementer was the largest DYDX farmer
– Bald deployer DYDX posts sound like SBF(1/x) ????
— hype (@hype_eth) July 31, 2023
But crypto journalist Tiffany Fong was quick to shoot down the SBF speculation, citing limited phone, laptop and Twitter access in his current bail terms.
Guys, SBF has not had access to a normal phone or laptop since April 2023 when his bail conditions changed. He actually uses a flip phone with no internet connection and a laptop with limited access to whitelisted websites (e.g. NYT, WSJ, Courtlistener, etc).
Note: he…
— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) July 31, 2023
Who do we blame?
A “back pull” in the crypto world refers to a deceptive strategy where developers introduce a new token, create an illusion of its legitimacy, and then abruptly withdraw liquidity, leaving investors in the lurch.
The BALD token incident underscores the challenges and vulnerabilities inherent in an evolving crypto landscape without a legitimate regulatory framework to regulate instances of misuse and abuse to the detriment of investors.
Unfortunately, the risks we continue to see within DeFi add a greater responsibility to regulators and platforms to implement robust security measures to help protect these types of scams. But can a “carpet pulling” actually be prevented at this current stage of where we are?
Doubtful.
Coinbase, considered one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is likely to receive more attention following this incident. How the company reacts and what actions it takes will be closely watched not only by its user base, but also by the wider crypto community.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by an nft now contributor in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.