Developers of the ZKasino blockchain casino sent 10,515 ETH worth $33.9 million to the Lido staking protocol instead of returning these funds to users and investors.
Ethereum was deposited by early project participants through the ZKAS native token pharma bridge. The project team promised that they would be able to return the sent assets.
However, in a post on April 20, ZKasino announced the launch of the network and "changes to the original plan." The platform allegedly converted all received ETH to ZKAS "at a reduced rate of $0.055" with a 15-month vesting period.
"This transformation is done as a favor to our users who have joined the ecosystem," the blog post reads.
The developers also changed the wording on their website, removing the statement that referred to the return of ETH.
EmberCN analysts drew attention to the suspicious transfer of funds to Lido.
"ETH was deposited by ZKasino users for farming purposes. As a result, the project team changed the official description of the site and forcibly exchanged ETH for the token of their platform," the researchers explained.
A Web3 developer under the nickname cygaar said that the launched ZKasino is a " chain of Arbitrum Nitro, the deployment of which took two minutes." In addition, the protocol does not use a zero-knowledge proof and EigenDA, despite the team's statements.
At the same time, investors and users of the X platform left a lot of messages warning about the scam. Venture capital firm Big Brain wrote that it has never invested in ZKasino, and the project itself seems fraudulent to it.
"Big Brain Holdings invested in ZigZag Exchange in 2022, which subsequently resulted in financial losses for us. Some of the co-founders of this project are now part of the ZKasino team, which looks dirty, " the company noted.
In one of the threads, the alleged founder of ZKasino, under the nickname Derivatives Monk, responded to a user's message that he would be "sued for stealing $30 million."
"You're a 60-year-old boomer hanging out with 20-year — olds," he wrote.
The ZKasino team did not make any other statements regarding the current situation.
Ethereum was deposited by early project participants through the ZKAS native token pharma bridge. The project team promised that they would be able to return the sent assets.
However, in a post on April 20, ZKasino announced the launch of the network and "changes to the original plan." The platform allegedly converted all received ETH to ZKAS "at a reduced rate of $0.055" with a 15-month vesting period.
"This transformation is done as a favor to our users who have joined the ecosystem," the blog post reads.
The developers also changed the wording on their website, removing the statement that referred to the return of ETH.
EmberCN analysts drew attention to the suspicious transfer of funds to Lido.
"ETH was deposited by ZKasino users for farming purposes. As a result, the project team changed the official description of the site and forcibly exchanged ETH for the token of their platform," the researchers explained.
A Web3 developer under the nickname cygaar said that the launched ZKasino is a " chain of Arbitrum Nitro, the deployment of which took two minutes." In addition, the protocol does not use a zero-knowledge proof and EigenDA, despite the team's statements.
At the same time, investors and users of the X platform left a lot of messages warning about the scam. Venture capital firm Big Brain wrote that it has never invested in ZKasino, and the project itself seems fraudulent to it.
"Big Brain Holdings invested in ZigZag Exchange in 2022, which subsequently resulted in financial losses for us. Some of the co-founders of this project are now part of the ZKasino team, which looks dirty, " the company noted.
In one of the threads, the alleged founder of ZKasino, under the nickname Derivatives Monk, responded to a user's message that he would be "sued for stealing $30 million."
"You're a 60-year-old boomer hanging out with 20-year — olds," he wrote.
The ZKasino team did not make any other statements regarding the current situation.
