$160K of Stolen Funds Frozen After Merlin DEX Rug Pull

• Blockchain security firm CertiK has frozen around $160,000 of stolen funds from the Merlin DEX rug pull.
• The incident was caused by an insider who abused owner wallet privileges.
• CertiK is working with law enforcement to freeze and recover the remaining amount of funds.

Merlin DEX Rug Pull

Blockchain security firm CertiK has revealed that it has frozen around $160,000, which was stolen during the Merlin DEX rug pull last week. Merlin, a zkSync-based decentralized exchange, fell victim to an insider rug pull, resulting in a loss of $1.8 million.

Stolen Funds Blocked

CertiK tweeted that they tried to collaborate with the remaining members of the Merlin team but were unable to verify their true identities due to lack of cooperation. They are now focusing on working with law enforcement and have submitted information to relevant US & UK agencies. The firm also added that it was monitoring the stolen funds and working with law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and United States of America in order to freeze and recover the remaining amount.

The Merlin Rugpull

Merlin tweeted on its official handle that the rug pull was orchestrated by its back-end team, adding that it had put a high degree of trust in them, but would continue to support victims affected by this event. CertiK took some blame for not informing users about risks associated with centralization sufficiently enough during audits.

Efforts To Aid Victims

CertiK shared news of freezing stolen funds via its official Twitter handle and stated that they initially tried to collaborate with remaining members of the Merlin team but failed due to lack of cooperation and identity verification issues.

Future Audits To Prioritize Centralization Risks

The blockchain security firm said they will be putting more emphasis on such issues during future audits by improving clarity in audit summaries and better communication between auditor and community about purpose behind audit reports . They plan on prioritizing centralization risks in audit summaries going forward so users get complete picture when assessing potential risks involved when investing into any project or platform .