In a concerning turn of events, the cryptocurrency community has been alerted to a rugpull incident involving SwirlLend on the Base and Linea platforms. The situation unfolded rapidly, causing significant losses for investors. The rugpull was tracked by PeckShieldAlert.
SwirlLend is a decentralized lending platform that operates on blockchain networks. It allows users to lend and borrow various cryptocurrencies without the need for intermediaries like banks or traditional financial institutions.
PeckShieldAlert is a Web3 protocol that’s focused on tracing and tracking malicious crypto addresses involved in stealing funds from users. It has reported several other criminal activities such as $25M stolen in Ethereum MEV, compromise on Sandbox social media account, fake ChatGPT tokens on the BNB chain, and more.
SwirlLend, saw its Total Value Locked (TVL) plummet from an impressive $784.3K to a mere $49.2K. This shocking drop in TVL underscores the severity of the rugpull, leaving many investors in disbelief.
To exacerbate concerns, SwirlLend has taken a drastic step by deleting its social platform presence. This action has left investors and the crypto community without a direct channel for communication and recourse.
The perpetrators behind the rugpull have further deepened the crisis by transferring substantial sums of cryptocurrency from Base to Ethereum.
Approximately $289.5K worth of various cryptocurrencies, including 140.68 ETH and 32.6K USDC, have been successfully moved. It’s worth noting that approximately 92 ETH remain on the Base platform.
Adding to the distress, it has come to light that SwirlLend wasn’t limited to a single platform. The rugpull scam extended to both the Base and Linea platforms. The scammers bridged about 94 ETH from Linea to Ethereum through Orbiter Finance: Bridge.
In the course of the event, the scammers also took Tornado Cash to launder 253.2 ETH (equivalent to approximately $462.6K), increasing the funds stolen. Tornado Cash is a decentralized cryptocurrency tumbler that operates on Ethereum-compatible networks.
In Q3 2023, an exploit took place on Curve Finance, resulting in the theft of over $47 million from users. The attack was facilitated by vulnerabilities in the protocols of Curve Finance, which were developed using the Vyper programming language.
This brings to light the reason why users in the crypto space are advised to always do their research and take precautionary measures to stay safe and avoid attacks.
