Weekend Summary: Uniswap developer dismissed over suspected rug pull, Steadefi hacker engages in mixing, and additional updates.

Uniswap developer terminated, was it justified?

A developer from Uniswap, referred to as “AzFlin,” has been dismissed by Uniswap Labs’ founder, Hayden Adams, for reportedly creating a memecoin and subsequently executing a rug pull a few hours later, resulting in a gain of 14 wrapped-Ether (wETH), valued at $25,800.

Reports indicate that AzFlin created and launched the FrensTech token (FRENS) on Coinbase’s new layer 2 blockchain Base on August 12, before quickly liquidating the tokens obtained from the liquidity pool.

Adams publicly acknowledged AzFlin’s termination, emphasizing that such conduct is neither endorsed nor tolerated at Uniswap Labs.

Wanted to let people know this person is no longer with the company.
Not behavior we support or condone. https://t.co/sxVowwIR3Q

— hayden.eth (@haydenzadams) August 12, 2023

The developer has responded to the situation with a series of humorous posts and a new cover photo on X (formerly Twitter).

AzFlin is poking fun at their new unemployment status. Source: X (formerly Twitter).

However, AzFlin asserts that no rug pull occurred.

“I bought that $FRENS used to provide LP with my OWN money from the dev wallet, so I am entitled to do as I please with it. This FUD is outrageous,” they stated on August 12.

Not everyone is convinced by AzFlin’s account, with some praising Adams’ choice to terminate AzFlin for the alleged misconduct:

Hayden Adams’ decision to terminate employee AzFlin is highly necessary and demonstrates his commitment to upholding Uniswap’s reputation and ethical standards. Developing a meme token and then exploiting access to transfer and sell tokens from the liquidity pool is a morally…

— KEVIL KOLS NETWORK (@KevilCrypto) August 13, 2023

Zuckerberg challenges Musk over cage fight avoidance

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated it’s “time to move on” from discussions regarding a potential cage fight with Elon Musk, accusing the Tesla CEO of making excuses and delaying any concrete plans.

Zuckerberg elaborated in an August 13 Threads post that Musk isn’t “serious” about a genuine fight due to his procrastination in providing any possible dates for the event.

“I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” Zuckerberg remarked, adding:

“Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead.”

Mark Zuckerberg’s latest remarks regarding a potential fight with fellow billionaire Elon Musk. Source: Threads

Zuckerberg — who has played a significant role in reshaping Meta’s investment strategy towards the Metaverse and artificial intelligence — mentioned that he will be prepared for a fight whenever Musk “gets serious” about a definitive date and official event.

The Meta CEO indicated he will continue to concentrate on competing with those who take the sport seriously in the meantime.

Donald Trump holds Ethereum and NFTs

Financial disclosures have indicated that former U.S. President Donald Trump possesses between $250,001 to $500,000 in Ethereum (ETH).

The statement, submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on April 14, identifies “cryptocurrency wallet (Ethereum)” as one of Trump’s investments, according to the 82-page document.

Donald Trump’s public financial disclosure report. Source: U.S. Government

This investment may be associated with Trump’s various non-fungible token (NFT) collections that have been launched on multiple occasions between 2022 and 2023.

Trump’s NFT initiative is projected to generate between $100,000 and $1 million, according to the financial disclosure.

Despite his investments in cryptocurrency and NFTs, the billionaire has expressed skepticism towards the sector in the past, labeling Bitcoin (BTC) as a “scam” and cryptocurrencies in general as “potentially a disaster waiting to happen” in August 2021.

Trump is once again campaigning to become the next U.S. President in the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election.

Steadefi hacker utilizes Tornado Cash

The individual responsible for the exploit of the decentralized finance protocol Steadefi has moved 100 Ether (ETH), valued at approximately $185,000, to the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, as reported by blockchain security firm CertiK.

CertiK noted on August 13 that the hacker still retains $786,000 (424 ETH) linked to the Steadefi exploit, which occurred on August 7.

#CertiKSkynetAlert
We have seen EOA 0xe10d deposit 100 ETH (~$185K) into @TornadoCash.
The EOA, which still holds 424 ETH ($786k), is connected to the exploit on @steadefi on August 7.
See more on Skynet https://t.co/4HOEg2PJ1k

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) August 13, 2023

A total of $334,000 was siphoned directly from Steadefi, with overall losses estimated to exceed $1.1 million, according to some assessments.

Tornado Cash has been utilized by hackers to obscure the financial trail and liquidate the stolen assets.

On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctioned Ethereum and USD Coin (USDC) addresses associated with the privacy tool.

Also in the news

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has submitted an amicus brief supporting Coinbase’s motion to dismiss its lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lummis argues that the SEC is improperly seeking to gain “primary influence” over the cryptocurrency industry at a time when significant regulatory considerations need to be addressed by Congress.

The decentralized finance platform Curve Finance has officially announced on August 11 its plan to reimburse users affected by the recent hack that resulted in $62 million in losses on July 30. The firm has successfully recovered 79% of the funds thus far.

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