
Controversy Arises Over Binance’s Indecision to Freeze BNB Wallets in $11M Rug Pull
A major incident involving a rug pull on the BNB Chain has resulted in users losing approximately $2 million, which is equivalent to $11 million at current BNB prices. In the aftermath, users appealed to Binance for assistance, but the exchange initially claimed it was unable to freeze the funds. Later, they backtracked, stating they had indeed frozen the scammer’s wallet, which by then had grown to a staggering $10.8 million. This shift in Binance’s stance has left users frustrated and demanding more action. This incident centers around the PopcornSwap scam.
On January 28, 2021, the decentralized exchange PopcornSwap, built on the BNB Chain, executed an exit scam that drained over $2 million from liquidity providers by exploiting a little-known “preUpgrade” function in the exchange’s smart contract. Following the attack, users hoped that Binance, the creator of the BNB Chain, would be able to intervene and freeze the scammer’s address. In the time since the scam took place, the value of the BNB held in the fraudster’s account had surged past $10 million, leading to speculation among users about the actual status of the funds.
Despite reassurances from Binance’s customer support that the scammer’s address had been frozen, the funds remained untouched for nearly two years, exacerbating the frustration of the victims and the community as a whole.