Another Scam: Solana NFT project Big Daddy Ape Club cons investors of $1.3M

Key Takeaways

• Solana-based NFT Project rug-pulled investors of $1.3 million
• Civic, a decentralized identity verification company had verified the team behind the launch last month
• Both Solana and Civic have since confirmed the scam

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com)- Last week, the NFT community witnessed the largest rug-pull in Solana blockchain’s history. The developers of the ‘Big Daddy Ape Club’ NFT project took off with 9,136 SOL in investors’ funds. In fiat currency, that amounts to almost $1.3 million.

After hopeful collectors first raised the alarm of the scam, Solana took to Twitter to confirm the news. 

“It has come to our attention that the BDAC mint was a rug, we want to inform the community that we are deleting the collection from @SolanartNFT grid,” the blockchain confirmed. 

It has come to our attention that the BDAC mint was a rug, we want to inform the community that we are deleting the collection from @SolanartNFT grid.

This project was successfully approved by @civickey verification but sadly, they decided to scam anyway.

— Solanart – Largest NFT Marketplace on Solana (@SolanartNFT) January 11, 2022

However, what irked the community most was the fact that the Solana identity verification platform Civic had verified the project. After the creators of the project successfully pass through a process of vetting, it establishes a level of trust in the community.

As an organization that has been in the blockchain space since 2015, Civic has established a reputation as a trustworthy decentralized identity verification company. After the incident, that stature stands compromised. 

“We offer flexible identity verification technology for businesses by using digital identity as a gateway for decentralized finance on the Solana blockchain,”

 Civic’s website reads.

Since Solana confirmed the news of the rug-pull, the company has crossed out the project on their portfolio.

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Behind the Big Daddy Ape Club rug-pull

Last month, Civic announced on Twitter that Big Daddy Ape Club had passed its civic verification program. According to the detailed verification process available on Civic’s website, the organizers have submitted a facial 3-D scan. In addition, the Civic team has also collected Government-issued ID cards from the people behind the rug-pull project. 

Please welcome @BigDaddyApeClub, now Verified by Civic Pass. Its team and ownership of https://t.co/M7nS785ccS have also been verified. Congrats! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/HB0RZww5dP

— Civic (@civickey) December 22, 2021

The NFTs were due on January 11. However, the project disappeared with the promised 2,222 ape-themed tokens when the investors were supposed to mint.

The project’s Twitter handle, Discord server, and official website also shut down. 

“Just got f***ed out of 3 SOL thanks to @SolanartNFT and @civickey terrible verification services. Big Daddy Ape Club just rugged millions. What are you going to do about it?” 

an angry impacted investor asked. 

Promising to get to the bottom of the unfortunate incident, Civic CEO Chris Hart also confirmed the Rug- Pull. 

Civic is 100% invested in getting to the bottom of this, and we do have the relevant identity information we captured which can aid in formal investigations.

— Chris Hart (@hartcb) January 11, 2022

“We are aware of the reported Big Daddy Ape Club rug pull and that there are victims involved. We take this attack on the NFT community seriously, and are taking steps to offer all the assistance we can,”  

Hart tweeted.

The official Twitter handle of Civic also followed up with an announcement. According to the team, the company is working with US-based authorities to get to the bottom of the scam.

We’re in direct contact with US based authorities and will be fully cooperating with them. We are encouraged to report this step in the right direction.

— Civic (@civickey) January 12, 2022

According to Chainsalysis, scammers took off with $2.8 billion in various scams in 2021. As the NFTs gain wider popularity, such scams need to be curtailed to establish trust and confidence in the community.