RiskOnBlast Suspected of First Rug Pull on Blast After $1M Presale

The RiskOnBlast project, a gambling platform within the Blast layer-2 ecosystem, has raised suspicion after funds, website, and social media presence disappeared, leading to speculation of a rug pull—the first on Blast.

Funds Vanish, Suspicions Arise

Arkham Intelligence reported that RiskOnBlast's balances hit zero as funds seemed to have been drained on Feb. 25. The project had raised 420 ETH, around $1.25 million, for its presale token RISK, held from Feb. 22 to 23. However, the team allegedly moved funds in Dai batches to the noncustodial exchange ChangeNOW.

Red Flags and Community Response

Etherscan flagged the project's address as a phishing scam, urging caution. Andrew Choi from Coinbase Tech lead posted alerts about the disappearance of the project's online presence. Blockchain sleuths reported that $850,000 of the stolen funds were laundered through ChangeNOW, with funds also sent to MEXC and Bybit exchanges.

Community Action and Losses

The crypto community has rallied to track the funds. Victims have reported significant losses, with one losing $12,500 and another $10,000. "MoonCat2878," a victim, donated 1 ETH to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT to aid in recovering stolen funds.

Blast's Response and Background

Blast, the layer-2 protocol, announced RiskOnBlast on Feb. 12, but red flags were raised due to the small, undisclosed team behind the project. Blast, a scaling solution for Ethereum, has attracted $2 billion in total value locked, primarily from airdrop hunters, despite bugs and controversies since its mid-November launch.