Can smart contract audit prevent `Rug Pulls` scam in DeFi?
Crypto investors lost over $2.8 billion (37% of total $7.7 billion) to “rug pulls” in 2021 only. In 2020, rug pulls accounted for just 1% of the under $5 billion in total illicit revenue.
What is Rug Pulls?
To prevent rug pull scams in the DeFi space, it is crucial to conduct a smart contract audit. This type of crypto scam occurs when developers abandon a project and abscond with their investors’ money. Rug pulls are a common occurrence in the decentralized finance ecosystem, especially on decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Malicious individuals create a token and list it on a DEX. Where they offer exchange by pairing it with the leading cryptocurrency Ethereum. To lure investors, developers often generate hype on Telegram, Twitter, and other social media platforms. Injecting a significant amount of liquidity into their pools to boost investor confidence.
Once the project is live for a few hours or days, liquidity pools can run into tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. At this point, scammers strike by “pulling” all liquidity away from the DEXs. Pocketing the entire amount and leaving investors with a worthless token, causing the token’s price to drop to zero.
Therefore, conducting a smart contract audit is essential to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities in the code before deployment. This will help prevent rug pulls, protecting investors from losing their money. By doing so, developers can build trust with investors, ensuring the long-term success of their projects in the DeFi space..
Thodex, AnubisDAO, Uranium FinanceDeFi100, Meerkat Finance, SnodogDAO are a few biggest rug pull scams of the year 2021 & many more are there.
How does smart contract audit prevent Rug Pulls?
To prevent rug pull scams on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), it’s important to conduct a smart contract security audit. DEXs are susceptible to rug pulls because tokens can be listed for free and without audit, unlike centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, which require multiple stages of verification and validation before approving a token for listing.
Moreover, creating tokens on open source blockchain protocols like Ethereum is easy and free, making it even more attractive to malicious actors looking to scam investors.
A smart contract security audit thoroughly analyzes application smart contracts to detect and eliminate vulnerabilities and verify the reliability of the contracts’ interactions. The audit ensures a high level of security and code quality, which are essential requirements for developing reliable smart contracts.
One of the main benefits of auditing a smart contract is the identification and resolution of any intention by developers to withdraw funds from liquidity pools. Developers with ill intentions typically don’t lock these pools, and the audit helps to protect these liquidity pools.
By conducting a smart contract security audit, blockchain technology can ensure the integrity of supply chain processes, promoting transparency and trust between stakeholders. The implementation of blockchain in supply chain management can help track the origin and movement of products. Ensuring their authenticity and quality, and preventing fraudulent activities.
Recommendation
To make an informed investment decision in a DeFi or DEX project, it is essential to check whether its code has undergone a smart contract audit. This audit gives investors/users the confidence to invest in these projects. Knowing that they have been thoroughly evaluated for potential vulnerabilities.
It’s crucial to note that only a qualified agency or team other than the developers themselves should conduct the audit. By doing so, investors can ensure that the audit is unbiased and impartial, without any conflicts of interest.
Investing in a token/project without a smart contract audit is not recommended, as it exposes investors to potential scams and risks associated with unverified code. It’s important to conduct due diligence on any project before investing. To protect yourself from rug pulls and other fraudulent activities that can lead to the loss of your investment.
Therefore, always look for projects that have undergone a smart contract audit by a reputable and independent agency. This will help you make an informed decision and minimize your risks. Ensuring the long-term success of your investment in the DeFi space.
Write us at audit@scrutify.io or request an audit here if you want an audit of your smart contract to get done and need our assistance.
Know more about the smart contract audit process.