The breakthrough and fall of the BALD token in the space of a few hours has generated a lot of comment since yesterday… And given rise to a few theories. Some see it as the work of Sam Bankman-Fried, ex-CEO of FTX. Does the theory hold water and what is it based on?
The BALD project, one rugpull among many?
Last Sunday, a mysterious contributor made news on Base, Coinbase’s blockchain. His cryptocurrency, BALD, gained 3 million% in just a few hours. One investor took advantage, turning his initial $1,000 into $1.5 million. But the stroke of genius was short-lived. The BALD developer withdrew 7,000 ETH of liquidity in one fell swoop, crushing the cryptocurrency’s price… Recovering more than $5 million in the process.
Over the weekend someone created a memecoin called Bald on BASE (Coinbase’s ETH L2) that reached a $85mm mkt cap in 48 hours
Just got rug pulled and dropped 85% almost instantly pic.twitter.com/5cAs4aAbuZ
– Will Clemente (@WClementeIII) July 31, 2023
Is this just another rugpull in the ecosystem, or is it a coordinated effort? As we’ve seen, part of the ecosystem sees the move as insider trading. The BALD developer and the entity playing with the liquidity could well be the same person, who managed to enrich himself in the space of a few days. But for some, the conspiracy goes even further: the mysterious developer is none other than… Sam Bankman-Fried.
Did Sam Bankman-Fried create BALD?
The ex-CEO of FTX, who is under surveillance pending trial, is supposed to have limited access to communication networks. But Sam Bankman-Fried is said to have recently used a VPN to bypass the limitations. Could he have used this to create BALD? That’s the theory of several Twitter investigators, including analyst Adam Cochran:
Apparently some former FTX folks think it’s sam as well…
– Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) August 1, 2023
The address used by the BALD developer would indeed have been linked to the Sushiswap community a few years ago, when Sam Bankman-Fried was a member. Another clue: the Serum Twitter account, which was owned by SBF and a few relatives, changed its name and started promoting BALD:
– Official project serum account on twitter changed name to @0xLukaeth and was shilling $bald :https://t.co/yWzuZt0r0k
(4/x)
– hype (@hype_eth) July 31, 2023
Furthermore, a Binance deposit address used has historically interacted with Alameda Research. Another clue: at the time of FTX’s collapse, an address linked to the creator of BALD would have deposited funds on the platform. He would have had no interest in doing so when the platform collapsed.
Other elements have been raised by the community: the BALD developer’s writing style is very similar to that of Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a lexical analysis. Moreover, the latter’s on-chain activities correspond to the times when SBF would have been unavailable, as he was summoned to court. One commentator points out that an address linked to the BALD developer ceased all activity when Sam Bankman-Fried was in custody… only to resume after his arrival in the USA.
All these elements combine to form the theory that Sam Bankman-Fried is the developer of BALD. Could it be that the ex-CEO of FTX was rugpulling while still awaiting trial? The question remains, and could make the whole affair even more far-fetched.
