Explained: The USEA Rug Pull (June 2023)

In June 2023, the USEA project performed a rug pull. The project team stole an estimated $1.1 million via a malicious mint.

Inside the Attack

The USEA token is hosted on BNB Chain, and the deployer performed a rug pull using the mint function within the token contract. By minting approximately 700 million USEA tokens, the deployer was able to steal an estimated $1.1 million.

After the mint, the tokens were transferred to EOA addresses. From there, the attacker used PancakeSwap v3 to convert the tokens into 1114468 BUSD.

Lessons Learned From the Attack

The USEA is another in a long string of rug pulls. This hack demonstrates the risks associated with centralized control of a tokens mint function. An attacker or insider can use this function to create new tokens and devalue the currency.

Scam projects and rug pulls are a regrettably common problem in the crypto space. To learn more about how to avoid these attacks, check out our blog on the warning signs of an exit scam.