Korean PureBit Either Refunds Ethereum (ETH) or Plays a Scam-in-a-Scam
With a note of remorse, PureBit began returning some ETH to its backers following a sudden 13,000 ETH exit scam, but in an odd manner.
PureBit, a recent ICO that went through an exit scam, has begun returning funds as a sign of remorse. The Korean exchange, which only existed for days, hauled away 13,000 ETH. The funds were marked as fraudulently taken, and thewalletwatched.
This would be one of the more significant fraud returns, following the CoinDash hack, where 20,000 ETH stood for months in a hacker’s wallet before being returned to the startup.
The Etherscan wallets related to PureBit show the funds are on the move, getting distributed to numerous flagged addresses. However, there are no solid indications that users are receiving their actual funds right now.
https://twitter.com/UPPSentinel/status/1062327935061934082
Additionally, skeptics are pointing out that the refund may be a scam on top of a scam, as messages requiring private keys have been circulated among Korean investors.
However, there are individual reports of returned funds, along with an apology from PureBit’s founder:
https://twitter.com/BlockchainROK/status/1062405649026314240
So far, the promises are only for a partial return of funds.
PureBit managed to pull in less than $3 million in an ICO at the start of November, during a period where token sales had almost dwindled to zero. Afterward, the rapid fall of Ethereum (ETH) prices decreased the ICO haul to around $2.27 million, making PureBit one of the relatively small ICOs. To compare, one of the high profile exit scams, that of Centra, erased around $32 million in value.
The PureBit scam is still mostly affecting Korean backers, despite the ban for local ICOs. Still, there are ways to send ETH into token sales and base the startup in other jurisdictions. PureBit was intended to be a small-scale exchange with a native token, in a way copying the model of KuCoin or Binance.
The PureBit exit scam was relatively small, especially in the light of the general bad mood surrounding the crypto market. But it is still an important warning of extreme caution with startup projects.