GameFi Rug Pull and Accidently Closed Exchange – Beware of Risks in Crypto

Crime DeFi Gaming Hack Play To Earn Security
Last updated:
Author
Author
Ruholamin Haqshanas
About Author

Ruholamin Haqshanas is a contributing crypto writer for CryptoNews. He is a crypto and finance journalist with over four years of experience. Ruholamin has been featured in several high-profile crypto...

Last updated:
Why Trust Cryptonews
Cryptonews has covered the cryptocurrency industry topics since 2017, aiming to provide informative insights to our readers. Our journalists and analysts have extensive experience in market analysis and blockchain technologies. We strive to maintain high editorial standards, focusing on factual accuracy and balanced reporting across all areas - from cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects to industry events, products, and technological developments. Our ongoing presence in the industry reflects our commitment to delivering relevant information in the evolving world of digital assets. Read more about Cryptonews
Source: Adobe/Negro Elkha

 

IIn a matter of 24 hours, developers of a play-to-earn (P2E) GameFi project apparently rug-pulled their investors, and a Solana (SOL)-powered exchange mistakenly shut itself down – all reminding us of risks in the crypto space. 

Per blockchain security firm PeckShield data, GameFi (P2E blockchain-powered games) project HeroCat appears to have rug-pulled its investors. The game’s token, HeroCat Token (HCT), has lost more than 99.9% over the past week, according to data by CoinGecko. 

PeckShield said that HCT, which is developed on the Binance Chain, “made a big sale and transferred” around USD 151,000 worth of the binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin. HeroCat has yet to release any updates about the current situation. 

Meanwhile, a Solana-based DeFi project has accidentally closed itself due to a developer mistake. “Decentralized options exchange” OptiFi said they closed down the project during a routine upgrade yesterday.

“We accidentally closed the OptiFi mainnet program and it’s not recoverable,” the project’s official Twitter account said, adding that the mistake resulted in the loss of USD 661,000 in funds, most of which was from team members.

In a post-mortem, the team said they wanted to upgrade the protocol on August 29 but canceled the operation when the deployment took longer than expected due to network congestion. They then noticed that a new “buffer” account had been created and that OptiFi had already transferred a little more than SOL 17.2 (USD 558) tokens to it.

The team attempted to shut down the OptiFi program to recover those assets. The scheme worked, but instead of closing it temporarily, the program had been shut down permanently. 

“We will return all users’ deposits and settle all user positions manually according to PythNetwor oracle at 8 AM UTC on Sep 2nd,” the team said.
_____
Learn more: 
This Is What FBI Recommends to DeFi Investors 
What DeFi Offers Beyond Lending for Crypto Speculation

How to Spot the Next Celsius Before It’s Too Late
Nomad DeFi Bridge Drained of At Least USD 150M in ‘Chaotic’ ‘Decentralized Robbery’

7 DeFi Risks You Should be Aware of According to CoinShares
DeFi Suffers from Too Much Centralization, What Can Be Done?

__
(Updated at 14:17 UTC: the part about the DeFi lending protocol Cream Finance was removed as the exploit happened in August 2021, not 2022, as reported.)

More Articles

Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Analyst PlanB Moves Entire BTC Holdings to Spot ETFs for “Peace of Mind”
Ruholamin Haqshanas
Ruholamin Haqshanas
2025-02-16 10:12:34
Altcoin News
Pantera Capital’s Dan Morehead Under Federal Tax Investigation After Move to Puerto Rico
Ruholamin Haqshanas
Ruholamin Haqshanas
2025-02-16 10:10:26
Crypto News in numbers
editors
Authors List + 66 More
2M+
Active Monthly Users Around the World
250+
Guides and Reviews Articles
8
Years on the Market
70
International Team Authors