Web3 project “Crypto Cars” rug pulls community following warning from CertiK
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” warned a blockchain security firm right before investors metaphorically gunned it down. The firm, CertiK, had issued an alert about Crypto Cars being an imminent rug pull. After facing a backlash, CertiK withdrew the warning, only for the project to eventually collapse.
CertiK’s spidey senses were tingling
CertiK, attempting to provide timely investor safety, found itself under fire by users of the Vietnamese Web3 gaming project, “Crypto Cars.”
In 2022, amidst a drastic price drop for the project’s token, a temporary website shutdown, and developer silence citing Lunar New Year celebrations, CertiK had identified and alerted about a potential rug pull. But irate investors forced CertiK to rescind the alert, and now the project is officially dead.
CertiK’s initial cautionary statement was rooted in the problematic signs observed in the “racing-based play-to-earn” project. The firm alerted followers on Twitter to the risks associated with the project, pointing out that the website and Telegram channel had shut down.
However, the alert was met with opposition from users who disputed the claims made by CertiK, insisting that the website was operational and that the Telegram channel was still active. Amid the backlash, and with seemingly credible counter-evidence, CertiK retracted its alert, labeling it a “false alarm.”
Told you so
Post-retraction, CertiK justified its initial alarm, pointing to the offline status of the Telegram account, the website, and the token value “dropping to zero.” CertiK explained to Cointelegraph that the pace of incident reporting in this sector is rapid, aimed at quickly informing community members about any suspicious activities.
However, this retraction led to further scrutiny, with one user describing the alert as “murderous,” suggesting that CertiK had hastily acted rather than ensuring its analysis was correct.
Unfortunately, the project now appears entirely deserted. Crypto Cars, despite the retraction of CertiK’s rug pull alert over a year ago, has done exactly what such projects typically do — it deleted its Telegram account, changed its Twitter to a new project called EtherBank, and erased team member identities from its barely functioning website.
Another one bites the dust
CoinMarketCap, which no longer tracks the project’s CCAR token, still holds some information about the project’s origins.
The creation of Crypto Cars was spearheaded by a group of developers hailing from Vietnam, under the leadership of Ly Tran, who purported to possess expertise in both web and mobile app development. An Nguyen, their appointed Chief Technology Officer, was reportedly a specialist in mobile development, with experience across multiple platforms. However, these developers have seemingly vanished from the internet.
Furthermore, the project’s website no longer displays the executive team. Founder and CEO Tran, along with team members Nguyen, Da Mach, and Mai Dang, seem to have erased their digital footprints from LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
The demise of Crypto Cars raises an essential question for the crypto world: Do investors need regulatory protections to guard against their own potential greed?
