OpenSea ‘unaware’ of Former Executive Role in $60M Rug Pull

OpenSea ‘unaware’ of Former Executive Role in $60M Rug Pull

OpenSea, a platform for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), has stated that it is oblivious of any evidence implicating a former employee in the infamous AnubisDAO rug pull in 2021.

In a thread made on X (formerly Twitter) on October 6, the anonymous account NFT Ethics tagged OpenSea and requested a response to allegations that its former head of ventures, Kevin Pawlak, is connected to the alias “0xSisyphus” and was involved in “various dubious business dealings.”

Both NFT Ethics and blockchain analytics account Lookonchain alleged that 0xSisyphus, and thus Pawlak, played a significant role in promoting the AnubisDAO project to investors just right before the project transferring the newly raised funds to a series of external wallets.

The NFT Ethics thread attempted to explain that Pawlak’s alleged role in the AnubisDAO rug pull was premeditated with other developers, and the proceeds were laundered using the memecoin Pepe (PEPE).

A spokesperson for OpenSea stated that the company was oblivious to Pawlak’s involvement in such activities and that Palwak had a “limited scope” while employed there.

“Kevin is a former employee who left the company in June 2023. He had a limited scope while at OpenSea — where he worked in a non-management position. We have no awareness of his involvement with the projects in question.”

“Furthermore, we have no connection to or information about the projects in question, as they took place before his time at OpenSea,” said a company representative.

In October 2021, crypto investors provided AnubisDAO with 13,556 Ether worth $60 million. Twenty hours later, however, the funds were sent to multiple wallet addresses, resulting in an immediate loss for the investors.

The Blockchain detective ZachXBT appeared to doubt the allegations, stating that the thread was “one of the most mid-curve” things he’d read.

He added that many of the thread’s assumptions about 0xSisyphus’ role in the purported rug-pulling appeared to be based on “unrelated events without facts.”

In addition, it is believed that 0xSisyphus once offered a 1,000 ETH bounty to anyone who could identify the wallet address that depleted the pool and engaged law enforcement in both the United States and Hong Kong, further casting doubt on the new accusations.

“Is Sisyphus at fault for gross negligence for lying about the Anubis team multisig? Absolutely 100%. Probably a civil case possible for victims,” wrote ZachXBT.

In this instance, ZachXBT observed that negligence is very distinct from stealing money from one’s project. “[As far as I am know], Sisyphus was the only member of the team to communicate with the [Department of Homeland Security].”

“You really think they did not look at him and monitor his activity?” asked ZachXBT.

Additionally, he explained that “Beerus” and “Ersan” were the two anonymous users who were most likely liable for the loss of funds during the AnubisDAO scandal.

Read Previous

Hackers Target South Korean Exchange Upbit in 2023 Surge

Read Next

BTC Revisits Key Levels