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Serial DeFi rug operator (Sorta / Magnate / Kokomo / Solfire)

ZachXBT publicly warned that Sorta Finance (Arbitrum) was likely to be an exit scam and linked it to a series of earlier lending-protocol rug pulls attributed to the same actor, with reported cumulative losses above $25M.

Also known as: Sorta Finance, Magnate Finance, Kokomo, Lendora, Solfire, Crolend, HashDAO

Summary

ZachXBT issued a public warning that Sorta Finance, a lending protocol on Arbitrum, was likely to be an exit scam, and linked it to a series of earlier lending-protocol rug pulls attributed to the same actor. Reported cumulative losses across the linked projects exceed $25 million. ^[1]

Reported pattern

According to crypto.news' account of ZachXBT's findings, the operator typically: ^[1]

forked Compound's lending contracts on EVM-compatible chains;
built up total value locked using low-quality audits and paid promotion;
then paused the protocol and withdrew user deposits.

ZachXBT also noted that a Tornado Cash withdrawal funded an early Sorta Finance user. ^[1]

Linked projects

ZachXBT named earlier projects attributed to the same actor, including Magnate Finance, Kokomo, Lendora, Solfire, Crolend, and HashDAO. ^[1]

Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.

People & entities involved

ZKasino exit scamRelatedProjectsZKasino ran a 'bridge-to-earn' campaign that, per reporting, collected about 10,515 ETH (~$33M). At launch the project converted deposits into its native ZKAS token instead of returning ETH and moved funds to a team multisig and into Lido. The event was widely reported as a rug pull.

Sources (2)

ZachXBT: Arbitrum lender likely an exit scam — crypto.news
ZachXBT (X) — profile / investigations — ZachXBT (X)