MerlinDEX recognizes the increasing concern among crypto investors about scams and hacks in the industry. As a result, they understand the need for innovative contract auditing companies to check the safety of contracts and protect investors’ funds.
However, MerlinDEX token holders recently discovered that even intelligent contract audits cannot guarantee the safety of their investments. The backlash has arisen against CertiK, a blockchain security company that reviewed a project that was subsequently hacked, leading to the loss of almost $2 million. The auditing company said it was not to blame for the missing money in MerlinDEX. But after a lot of reaction, CertiK said it is looking into the case and figuring out how to pay the victims.
CertiK has said it will start a fund to help the people hurt by the nearly $2 million MerlinDEX scam. The blockchain security company has also offered a 20% white hat prize to hackers who return the money they stole.
Users of the MerlinDEX decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol who lost their hard-earned money in the recent $2 million scam pulled by the protocol’s creators may have a chance to get it back.
ICertiK, a tool for ranking the security of blockchain and DeFi protocols, first thought that the loss of MerlingDEX assets was caused by a problem with how private keys were managed, not by hackers or a rug pull attack.
But eZKalibur, a decentralized exchange tool based on zkSync, announced that it had found a flaw in the MerlinDEX smart contract. The hackers took advantage of this weakness to steal money from the system.
CertiK reviewed the MerlinDEX code before the rug was pulled out from under it, and now it says it wants to develop a plan to make investors whole again.
20% whitehat bounty
CertiK says that it has found out that the bad guys are in Europe and is now working with law enforcement to catch them. The company has also offered the evil workers who did the rug pull a 20% white hat bounty if they return the stolen money.
This year alone, there have been several hacks where the bad guys took a reward in exchange for the stolen money. This month, the people who stole $8.9 million from SafeMoon decided to give back 80% of what they stole after talking with those who did the project. The MerlinDEX attackers may or may not take up CertiK’s reward offer.
Final Thoughts
Every altcoin investor should change their thoughts about smart contract checks after the MerlinDEX case. Investors should always read the intelligent contract report because there are better ways to determine how risky the contract is than getting a passing grade. Instead, buyers who want to avoid the chance of a rug pull should look for “centralization risks” in the smart contract.
Ken Emmanuel is a Blockchain Content writer, a Web3 Enthusiast and a Social Media Management Strategist, he likes writing educative contents to help people gain more knowledge and get inspired. The growth of any organization he work with is always his priority. He is a Geographer by profession and loves reading.
