<ul>
 <li aria-level="1">ETH Trust Fund DAO Accused Of $2 Million Rug Pull; Funds Transferred To A New Wallet Via Developers.</li>
 <li aria-level="1">Scammers Utilized Mixer Apps To Conceal Their Trails, Laundering Stolen Funds Through Ethereum And Tornado Cash.</li>
</ul>
The Ethereum Trust Fund (DAO), a decentralized autonomous organization operating on the Ethereum network, has been implicated in a $2 million scam, leaving investors and the broader cryptocurrency community in shock. This incident underscores the increasing vulnerability within the digital asset space to fraudulent schemes.
<h2 id="b-details-of-the-eth-trust-fund-scam-b">Details of the ETH Trust Fund Scam</h2>
The scam unfolded when developers allegedly transferred $2 million from the fund’s treasury to an unknown wallet, subsequently shutting down the project’s website and erasing their social media presence. 
Reports from the crypto community on X highlighted the abrupt disappearance of the ETH Trust Fund’s online activities, raising immediate alarms about the legitimacy of the operation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
 RUG ALERT <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/1f6a8.png" alt="🚨" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;">
 Yesterday, the project known as ETHTrustFund (<a href="https://twitter.com/ETHTrustFund_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@ethtrustfund_</a> now deleted) sent +$2M from the treasury to a new wallet, after months of intentional inactivity by the dev, it seems that he has decided to steal the funds <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/1f447.png" alt="👇" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;"> <a href="https://t.co/YcswifyHmQ" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/YcswifyHmQ</a>
 — Octoshi.eth (@0ctoshi) <a href="https://twitter.com/0ctoshi/status/1815026461675335752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">July 21, 2024</a>
</blockquote>
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<h2 id="b-modus-operandi-of-the-scam-b">Modus Operandi of the Scam</h2>
Security firm PeckShield detailed the transaction process, revealing that the developers utilized cryptocurrency mixing services to obfuscate the trail of the stolen funds. These services, such as <a href="https://www.ethnews.com/ethereum-co-founder-donates-30-eth-for-tornado-cash-legal-defense/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Tornado Cash</a> and Railgun, are often used to enhance privacy but can also be exploited to conceal illicit activities.
<figure id="attachment_83489" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-83489" style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-83489" src="https://www.ethnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/rugpu-2048x637-1.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="637">
 <figcaption id="caption-attachment-83489" class="wp-caption-text">
 Source: X
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According to <a href="https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1815275372818428332" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PeckShield</a>, the funds were converted to Ethereum and laundered through these platforms shortly after the transfer.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PeckShieldAlert?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#PeckShieldAlert</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rugpull?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#rugpull</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/0ctoshi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@0ctoshi</a> reported that <a href="https://twitter.com/ETHTrustFund_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@ethtrustfund_</a> rugged ~$2m worth of cryptos on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Base?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#Base</a>. The scammers have already bridged the stolen funds to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ethereum?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#Ethereum</a> &amp; laundered them via <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tornadocash?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#Tornadocash</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Railgun?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#Railgun</a> <a href="https://t.co/jmKVgiQb8C" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://t.co/jmKVgiQb8C</a> <a href="https://t.co/MzJsvQ1pyV" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/MzJsvQ1pyV</a>
 — PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1815275372818428332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">July 22, 2024</a>
</blockquote>
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<h2 id="b-background-and-operation-b">Background and Operation</h2>
The ETH Trust Fund was marketed to potential investors as an innovative investment platform, akin to an OHM fork utilizing blockchain technology for issuing and managing ETF tokens. 
Investors were enticed with promises of profit from rebasing activities that ostensibly would increase the value of tokens in circulation. However, the project had been inactive for several months, leading to suspicions that culminated in the recent fraudulent event.
<h3 id="b-the-broader-impact-on-the-crypto-community-b">The Broader Impact on the Crypto Community</h3>
This latest scandal adds to a series of unsettling fraud cases within the cryptocurrency sector, including a recent $230 million theft from the Indian crypto exchange WazirX. The repetitive nature of these incidents highlights critical <a href="https://www.ethnews.com/bnb-smart-chain-losses-dropped-83-in-q2-2024-security-report/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">security issues</a> within the industry and calls for enhanced regulatory and security measures to protect investors from similar <a href="https://www.ethnews.com/1-5b-has-been-lost-in-scams-involving-btc-eth-and-xrp-in-the-past-year-new-altcoin-star-rollblock-prioritizing-safety-and-security/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">scams in the future</a>.
The post <a href="https://www.ethnews.com/eth-trust-fund-scandal-2-million-vanishes-in-cryptos-latest-rug-pull-scam/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH Trust Fund Scandal: $2 Million Vanishes in Crypto’s Latest Rug Pull Scam</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.ethnews.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETHNews</a>.

ETH Trust Fund Scandal: $2 Million Vanishes in Crypto’s Latest Rug Pull Scam

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