Coinbase Global, a major cryptocurrency exchange in the US, announced on Wednesday that it has removed 'how to buy' instructions for at least three crypto tokens which have been identified as 'rug pulls' that could make investors lose their money.
The three said tokens include ‘DeFi100’, ‘Mercenary’, and the ‘SQUID token’. Last week, Reuters media outlets brought attention to the tokens on Coinbase sales pages that were suspected to be rug pulls.
Jaclyn Sales, a spokesperson at Coinbase, stated yesterday that the links associated with such tokens were removed from the crypto exchange's website after they were brought into the limelight by Reuters.
CoinMarketCap was identified to have automatically created the sales pages. Since its establishment, CoinMarketCap has had the goal of collecting all of the data about the crypto space and putting them in one, online location, so that anyone, anywhere can find out more about any particular crypto coin they are interested in.
However, Shaun Heng, the Vice-President of Growth and Operations at CoinMarketCap, talked about the ‘crypto tokens’ in question, and stated that CoinMarket did not create the pages as there was no partnership with Coinbase.
So, Coinbase pulled down the pages that featured ‘DeFi100’ ‘Mercenary’, and ‘Squid Game’ crypto tokens on its website.
In addition, the Coinbase spokesperson said that the exchange plans to conduct an upgrade to safeguard its auto-created webpages.
Crypto Funds Go Missing
Coinbase is the most popular consumer-facing cryptocurrency exchange in the US. Formed in 2012, the firm allows users to hold, purchase and sell crypto coins like Bitcoin . The online platform has gained much popularity and turned itself into a reliable exchange for mainstream crypto investors. However, Coinbase said, as a disclaimer, that its online pages offering tips on investing in tokens are informational rather than investment advice and that the exchange is not liable for ‘errors and delays’.
While the popularity of crypto adoption has significantly grown, scams in the industry have continued to make headlines. Chainalysis research company revealed that scams scooped over $7.7 billion from investors last year. The most common form of scam was the ‘rug pull’, where developers launch a scam project, attract investors and then abandon the project, escaping with the investors' funds. Last year, Squid Game crypto token crashed to zero after the developers did a rug pull that robbed over $3.38 million from investors.
