Memecoins
Crypto sleuth exposes SOL meme coin team in GCR hack
A crypto analyst survey ZachXBT in recent days he discovered that the meme coin team Sol ($CAT) was involved in the hacking of the GCRClassic account. It was established that it involved insider trading, market manipulation and large-scale financial operations.
Hacking revealed
Before hackers gained access to the GCRClassic Twitter account, an address associated with the Sol team went ahead and established large bearish exposure on Hyperliquid, including $2.3 million in ORDI and $1 million in ETHFI.
Research has linked such transactions to the launch of the meme coin with the Sol team accused of manipulating the event and consequently taking control of 63% of the $CAT supply. Its members were able to sell over $5,000,000 worth of tokens and the profits were split between wallets.
Key transactions and market manipulation
The address 6M54xEUamVAQVWPzThWnCtGZ7qznomtbHTqSaMEsUHPF received approximately 15,000 SOL (which is equivalent to $2.5 million) for the sale of $CAT. From that point on, he began sending slightly similar amounts to Kucoin and MEXC, subsequently creating similar withdrawals in Ethereum and Arbitrum.
Purchases in perpetual trading contracts were made to Hyperliquid in several transactions involving deposits of funds. Following posts from the compromised GCRClassic account regarding ORDI, the price rose enough for the associated address to exit the long position at a profit.
In the second attempt to manipulate the market with ETHFI, the hackers only managed to attack for a smaller amount, thus highlighting their multiple attempts with the indicated scheme.
Lessons and implications
This incident offers several key lessons for the crypto community:
1. The hack illustrated how scammers use the names of large accounts to manipulate the market with the aim of making profits.
2. Research has also revealed that meme coins are extremely vulnerable to fluctuations and generally even more so than many venture coins.
3. He underlined the fact that platforms should be careful in providing visibility to the promoters of meme coins because the latter may not have good intentions.
4. The community needs to be more cautious of SIM swaps and phishing scams because these have been successful with scammers moving into meme coin marketing.
The situation described by ZachXBT offers a clear understanding of the investigation of the case and shows that, despite the relatively low level of hacking actions, the results are quite significant. Cryptocurrency users were encouraged to learn about these findings in order to prevent similar situations in the future.
Also check: Cryptocurrency Weekly Report: Reporting Hacks, Heists, and Takedowns