Coinbase: Base Scammers Earn $2 Million Profit From 500 Scam Tokens

Scam tokens have taken Coinbase by storm. Recent research by Solidus Labs revealed that in the period between mid-July and August 9, more than 500 scam tokens were created on the Base Layer-2 blockchain. The tokens included BASEPEPE [BPEPE], Baby Yoda [YODA], etc.

More than 500 scam tokens have emerged on Base, the blockchain launched by Coinbase earlier this month https://t.co/69Sfg9AmSm
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) August 16, 2023

Also Read: Coinbase’s Base Welcomes Meme Coin Season: Assets Rise Upto 7-Million%

The ‘Buzz’ Factor

Solidus’ report pointed out that around 300 tokens allowed creators to mint an uncapped supply. Furthermore, another 60 tokens blocked buyers from reselling them on exchanges. According to the New York-based company specializing in monitoring suspicious crypto transactions,

“Scam token creators feed on hype, promise, and price and volume manipulation.”

As far as the numbers are concerned, the report pointed out that the scam tokens helped generate around $3.7 million in trading volume on Base DEXes. Consequentially, scammers made roughly $2 million in profit.

As reported recently, the launch of Coinbase’s Base for developers marked the onset of the meme-coin season. Such pump-and-dump crypto assets registered spikes of up to 7,000,000%. Furthermore, freshly created whale wallets have been driving activity on Base. HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu with the ticker BITCOIN [not to be confused with the original BTC] has been another crypto that managed to find appeal among whales. In fact, this asset is up 182% in August, outshining other meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.

??The biggest #memecoin on the block hasn't stopped its pumping ways. Despite many #altcoin retracements today, #HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu price is now +182% in August. Watch volume & network growth (rise is good), & social dominance (rise is bad). https://t.co/NGd8rsWrek pic.twitter.com/ZMBXtAq4KU
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 16, 2023

Chen Arad, the Co-Founder of Solidus, said that “buzz” is always a factor, and Base naturally generated buzz, which ended up attracting scammers. The report noted that the hype surrounding the Base network was no exception, and as a result, approaching such tokens with caution held the key. Commenting on similar lines, a Coinbase spokesperson said,

“We encourage consumers to do their research diligently before participating in any dApp, on Base or any other chain, just as they would on the open internet.”

Also Read: Coinbase: ‘Fresh’ Whale Wallets Created in 2023 Drive Activity on Base