The alleged scammer behind the ZKasino rug pull has reportedly misplaced over $27 million in a high-risk Ethereum commerce as crypto market turbulence continues to catch overleveraged merchants.
On April 7, blockchain analytics platform Onchain Lens revealed that the scammer had exited a 20x leveraged lengthy place on ETH utilizing the Hyperliquid buying and selling platform.
The setback is believed to have stemmed from Ethereum’s current value correction amid the broader market hunch triggered by the US deciding to implement reciprocal tariffs on 180 international locations.
In line with CryptoSlate’s knowledge, Ethereum fell nearly 20% over the past 24 hours to as little as $1415 earlier than trying a restoration above $1500. ETH was buying and selling at $1537 as of press time.
Many within the crypto house view the ZKasino scammer’s current buying and selling loss as a “dose of karma.”
The scammer’s loss echoes a case from March 31, when the hacker behind the $9.6 million ZkLend exploit misplaced 2,930 ETH to a phishing website mimicking Twister Money. That particular person had additionally ignored a bounty provide from ZkLend.
Zkasino rip-off
The funds used within the commerce are believed to stem from an earlier exploit tied to ZKasino, which occurred in 2024. The platform confronted widespread backlash after executing a rug pull that drained almost $33 million value of Ethereum from customers.
ZKasino’s transfer triggered intense criticism throughout the trade. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin criticized the mission, claiming its use of “ZK” branding was deceptive and solely based mostly on its deployment on zkSync.
In response to the backlash, ZKasino promised to refund traders’ funds whereas claiming it acted in customers’ pursuits by changing the ETH to ZKAS tokens and locking them underneath a 15-month vesting schedule.
Nonetheless, the promised refunds haven’t materialized as of press time.
In the meantime, the Netherlands’ Fiscal Info and Investigation Service (FIOD) later arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of involvement within the scheme. Authorities seized digital belongings, luxurious automobiles, and actual property value roughly $12.2 million.
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