Makers of our own destiny we are. Investors and economists maybe the proverbial butterfly whose wings can cause a tempest on other side of the globe. Yet, sometimes, are we not the ship in the storm of our own making?
Take for instance, the tale of CertiK, a notable blockchain security firm, and Crypto Cars, a Vietnamese Web3 gaming project. In 2022, CertiK tagged Crypto Cars as a potential “rug pull,” considering the rapid fall of the project’s native token, a temporary shutdown of its website and an unexpected announcement about developers’ hiatus during the Lunar New Year celebrations in Vietnam. However, in a surprising turn of events, Crypto Cars’ user base, who believed the warning to be a false alarm, fought back fervently, prompting CertiK to withdraw the alert.
While this could have seemed like a classic case of David defeating Goliath, it was far from it. And the ramifications were severe. The project that CertiK had warned about, Crypto Cars, did exactly what it was expected to do, it pulled the rug. The project shut its doors even before Cointelegraph could follow-up.
Even before CertiK’s hands were forced to raise the white flag, it had cited shutdown of official channels as the rationale behind the impending rug pull. Not surprisingly, these claims were refuted, as users pointed out that the website and the Telegram channel were still at work. Under intense scrutiny and in the face of seemingly valid evidence, CertiK retracted its alert stating it as a “false alarm.”
Ironically, the project, which seemed to have risen from the ashes, slid into oblivion shortly afterwards and performed the notorious rug pull, leaving its community in the lurch. Furthermore, it shapeshifted its Twitter handle to a totally different project, EtherBank, deleted the Telegram channel, and airbrushed its team member from the website. Digital traces of developers like Ly Tran and An Nguyen vanished into thin air.
This episode sparks an age-old conundrum: Are strict regulations necessary to shield investors from their own greed? Critics argue such measures as counterproductive, asserting that they curtail growth of this dynamic industry and limit the potential rewards for those willing to take a risk. Others reason that in the wake of such encounters, regulatory safeguards seem not just prudent but necessary.
Source: Cointelegraph
