Merlin DEX (MAGE)
A zkSync DEX (token MAGE) drained of ~$1.8M during its April 2023 token launch — concluded to be a rug pull by rogue developers via excessive 'feeTo' permissions. CertiK had audited it days earlier and later offered a victim compensation plan.
Also known as: Merlin DEX, MAGE
Summary
Merlin DEX was a zkSync-based decentralized exchange with the MAGE token. On April 26, 2023, about $1.8 million (≈435 WETH and ~811,000 USDC) was drained from its liquidity pools during its token "Liquidity Generation Event." Security analysts, including CertiK, concluded it was a rug pull by rogue developers with privileged access. [1][2][3]
Details
The root cause was excessive permissions granted to the contract's "feeTo" role at initialization, which let the deployer withdraw pool reserves directly. CertiK had audited Merlin days earlier (April 14, 2023); after the incident it launched a community compensation plan and urged the "Europe-based" developers to return most of the funds. [2][3]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
People & entities involved
Sources (3)
See also
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) — Justin Sun token freezeProjectsWLFI, a DeFi project linked to Donald Trump and his family, blacklisted/froze the wallet of major investor Justin Sun in Sept 2025 — ~540–595M unlocked WLFI tokens (~$107M) plus ~2.4B locked. Sun sued, alleging an undisclosed admin 'blacklist backdoor'; WLFI denied it and threatened a countersuit. The dispute is ongoing.
$MELANIA tokenMarket manipulationA Solana memecoin announced by Melania Trump on Jan 19, 2025. Per FT analysis, ~24 wallets bought in minutes before the public announcement and netted ~$99.6M as retail piled in; the token then fell 95%+. Early buys were traced to wallets linked to $LIBRA figure Hayden Davis. No charges have been filed.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.