- $4B NFT rug pulls since 2022, per Chainalysis.
- Fear & Greed 21; BTC $74,359, ETH +7.9%.
- OpenSea volume -15% Q1 2024, Dune Analytics.
Ben McKenzie's crypto scams doc aired on WNYC April 14, 2024. It spotlights $4 billion NFT rug pull losses since 2022, per Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report.
Ethereum L1 and Solana saw most incidents. OpenSea and Blur suffered heavy hits from dev exits and hacks.
Chainalysis Confirms $4B NFT Losses on Ethereum L1
Ben McKenzie, Easy Money co-author, shares victim stories. Chainalysis verifies $4 billion in NFT scams, mainly secondary market rugs on Ethereum mainnet.
Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report details Ethereum L1 rugs. Example: Devs drained post-mint liquidity, floor crashed to 0 ETH on OpenSea, block 18,900,000+, April 2023.
OpenSea Ethereum volume dropped 15% Q1 2024 to 42,000 ETH. Data from Dune Analytics, April 15, 2024.
Blue-chips hold: CryptoPunks floor 28 ETH on Blur (contract 0xb47e3cd837ddf8e4c57f05d70ab865de6e193bbb). BAYC floor 12.1 ETH on OpenSea (contract 0xbc4ca0eda7647a8ab7c2061c2e118a18a936f13d), April 14, 18:00 UTC.
"Scams explode in bull hype," McKenzie says. He pushes pre-mint audits by PeckShield or Certik.
Web3 Gaps Drive Solana NFT Rug Pulls
Solana PFP project rugged $50 million SOL. Holders lost 90% on Magic Eden secondary sales (Solscan verified).
Co-author Jacob Silverman flags dev backdoors. PeckShield Q1 2024 found 200+ ERC-721 vulnerabilities.
Ethereum L2 Base NFT mints surged with $0.01 gas (L2Fees.info, April 14). McKenzie urges KYC on Blur and 5-10% on-chain royalties.
SEC 2023 chased 50 crypto frauds. NFT rugs dodge via non-security status.
BTC Rally Hits $74,359 as Fear & Greed Dips to 21
Alternative.me Fear & Greed Index at 21, April 14, 2024. Bitcoin $74,359 USD (+4.9% 24h, CoinMarketCap). Ethereum $3,463 (+7.9% 24h).
BAYC floor 12.1 ETH ($41,900 USD). Pudgy Penguins 7-day volume fell 20% to 1,200 ETH, CoinGecko NFT.
Bitcoin Ordinals hit $100 million scam-free volume March 2024 (Dune Analytics). Audited ERC-404 hybrids prove safer.
On-Chain Checks Beat Rug Pulls
Hardware wallets block $1.7 billion phishing (Chainalysis 2023). Verify Etherscan/Solscan pre-mint; seek >100 unique holders.
CoinDesk's Nick Neumann reports 40% Q1 2024 scam alerts rise. Artists shift to Zora ERC-721 1/1s with provenance.
Manifold Studio sets 10% on-chain royalties. Axie clones rugged $200 million SOL—use Verifiable Credentials.
Audits and Regs Fight NFT Fraud
EU MiCA mandates NFT disclosures 2024. US stablecoin bills target rugs.
BlockTower's Ari Paul predicts audit rules. Quantstamp 2023 vetted 500 projects, cut risks 70%.
OpenSea delists unverified. Blur's 0.5% fees favor clean volume. Audited collections like Moonbirds rebound fast.
On-chain vigilance separates blue-chips from rugs. NFT markets rise on verified launches.
