•CertiK audited MerlinDEX, which later suffered a $2 million exit scam.
•The firm denied responsibility but claims it is working on an aid fund for victims.
•CertiK highlighted that its report did point to centralization risks in the MerlinDEX smart contract.
MerlinDEX Suffers $2 Million Rug Pull
MerlinDEX recently suffered a rug pull incident, resulting in almost $2 million in losses for investors who bought the project MAGE token during its public sale. The security firm CertiK, which had completed an audit of the project, denied responsibility but said it was exploring a plan to compensate victims.
CertiK Denies Responsibility
CertiK stated that private key privileges are outside the scope of a smart contract audit and could not prevent rug pulls. However, they also noted that their report did point out centralization risks in the MerlinDEX smart contract before the incident occurred.
Investors Look to Smart Contract Auditing Firms
Crypto projects are rife with scams and hacks, meaning investors are looking for ways to protect themselves from such incidents. As such, many have been turning to smart contract auditing firms to vet contracts and ensure their safety. Unfortunately, as happened with MerlinDEX, these audits do not always provide sufficient protection against malicious actors or exploits.
CertiK Investigating Incident & Exploring Aid Plan
Following immense backlash from users questioning CertiK’s credibility due to the incident, they responded by saying they were actively investigating it and exploring a plan to compensate victims. Additionally, they encouraged users to look for projects with a KYC Badge as this indicates developers have disclosed their information to the auditing firm and thus can help mitigate risk of rug pulls happening again.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while CertiK has denied responsibility for the MerlinDEX rug pull incident involving almost $2 million in losses for token holders involved in its public sale, it is still investigating it and looking into ways of providing some form of relief or aid for those affected by it. Furthermore, they have recommended users look for projects with KYC Badges as this may help reduce risk of similar events occurring again in future crypto projects undergoing audits from them or other firms alike