In another concerning development, prominent blockchain security firm, Peckshield, revealed that they have reviewed over 50 potentially questionable projects on Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
Rug Potentials on Binance Smart Chain
Rug pulls were a frequent occurrence in the crypto space in 2021. In this kind of scam, developers of a DeFi project abandon it unexpectedly and siphon off with user funds. Binance Smart Chain was one of the badly hit DeFi platforms which lured numerous malicious actors since its inception.
In the latest development, Peckshield revealed to have detected more than 50 tokens with “all-in potentials” on BSC. The blockchain security firm has alerted the community that the admins behind the mentioned tokens can potentially create unlimited tokens, block users from selling the coins, and even blacklist all accounts.
The tokens at risk, as mentioned on Peckshield’s list, are operated by anonymous teams, and the firm has deemed all the projects as “medium” in terms of severity.
Carpet jumpers in 2021, what’s next?
The monumental year of 2021 has seen rug draws become one of the most widely used choice scams. According to a report by blockchain firm Chainalysis, these rug draws accounted for 37% of all scam revenue last year, compared to just 1% in 2020.
There are two major reasons why rug pulls became so common. One was the initial hype surrounding the DeFi space and the subsequent FOMO. Next up – the technical skills required to develop tokens and get them listed on exchanges, many of which were done without a proper analysis of the smart contract’s code by a third party.
But that trend may not continue into 2022. Going forward, Chainalysis believes crypto-related crimes may decline as law enforcement’s ability to tackle these scams evolves. He recently said that the increase in legitimate crypto use “far outpaces the growth in criminal use.”
In fact, the firm noted that illicit activity’s share of crypto transaction volume has never been lower. Its report on the same revealed that “crime is becoming a smaller and smaller part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”
The team also mentioned that a positive development against these crimes is the “increasing ability of law enforcement to seize illicitly obtained cryptocurrency.” For example, IRS Criminal Investigation seized over $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency in 2021.
