NONE Ceases Operations Following Phishing Exploit Amounting 41.52 ETH

NONE, a top-tier suite of trading tools for cryptocurrencies and NFTs, will cease operations, partly due to an exploit on Sept. 18 in which the None deployer lost 41.52 ETH in addition to NONE tokens. According to CertiK Alert, a blockchain security firm, the incident appears to be a phishing incident.

The exploit involved the deployer approving a malicious contract (0x3b6) to use NONE tokens. Subsequently, a function called benice2me() was executed from the contract, leading to the dispersal of 41.52 ETH across various wallets.

Additionally, 11.7k NONE tokens were moved from the deployer to the address 0x560. The exploiter then aggregated 47 ETH (equivalent to $76.5k) into the address 0x1dE before further distribution to multiple wallets and eventual transfer to exchanges.

NONE Shuts Down

In a message to the None Trading (NT) community on X, the project’s team has announced the decision to cease operations. While the NT project has been characterized by ambition, dedication, and unwavering support from its community, a critical exploit within the project’s infrastructure has resulted in a substantial loss of funding and the team tokens crucial for its operations, the announcement reiterated.

#CertiKSkynetAlert @nonethio have announced they are ceasing operations, in part due to an exploit on 18 September in which the None deployer lost 41.52 ETH in addition to NONE tokens.

The incident appears to be a phishing incident.https://t.co/dRicAns4qo

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) September 20, 2023

Additionally, the project said it had lost three core team members essential for its healthy functioning, leaving the company in a financial and infrastructural position that renders it impossible to continue its operations effectively.

“We understand the importance of your degening,” the announcement stated, addressing the project’s token holders. Hence, they have been granted a 30-day window to claim rewards from the web dashboard before it goes offline. Token holders have been encouraged to act within this timeframe to ensure they receive their due rewards.

Furthermore, users are given ample opportunity to withdraw their tokens and funds from the NT bot, with a 30-day window provided for these transactions before the bot goes offline permanently. Withdrawal, get_priv, and portfolio commands are still active, while all other functions and commands have been disabled.

A Rug Pull in Disguise?

The None announcement went on to assure that the Trading Competition winners had been paid out in full as of one hour before it went live. Moreover, the remaining amount of ether in the deployer wallet has been transferred to the reward claim wallet for holder claims. All remaining token fees have been sent in full to the reward wallet.

However, while Certik believes it to be a phishing attack, some took it to X to denounce it and label it a rug pull. Others pointed out their earlier posts on thefts in Web3 and how they were working to safeguard their customers’ funds.