An ex-employee of OpenSea has been accused of facilitating the AnubisDAO rug pull in 2021, but some commentators are doubting this claim.
OpenSea, a platform for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), says it is ignorant of evidence implicating a former employee in the infamous AnubisDAO rug pull in 2021 in response to recent social media allegations.
In a thread published on X (formerly Twitter) on October 6, the anonymous account NFT Ethics tagged OpenSea and requested a response to allegations that its former head of ventures, Kevin Pawlak, is connected to the alias “0xSisyphus” and was involved in “various dubious business dealings.”
1/ Dear @OpenSea, what do you think of the fact that your Head of Ventures, Kevin Pawlak, has been involved in various very dubious business dealings (e.g. Anubis) and pump & dump schemes under his pseudonymous identity @0xSisyphus (& 0xMagellan)? pic.twitter.com/GzIVLJirLE
— NFT Ethics (@NFTethics) October 6, 2023Both NFT Ethics and blockchain analytics account Lookonchain alleged that 0xSisyphus, and thus Pawlak, played a significant role in promoting the AnubisDAO project to investors just prior to the project transferring the newly raised funds to a series of external wallets.
The NFT Ethics thread attempted to explain that Pawlak’s alleged role in the AnubisDAO rug pull was premeditated with other developers, and the proceeds were laundered using the memecoin Pepe (PEPE).
A spokesperson for OpenSea told crypto reporters that the company was oblivious of Pawlak’s involvement in such activities and that Palwak had a “limited scope” while employed there.
“Kevin is a former employee who left the company in June 2023. He had a limited scope while at OpenSea — where he worked in a non-management position. We have no awareness of his involvement with the projects in question.”
“Furthermore, we have no connection to, or information about, the projects in question, as they took place before his time at OpenSea,” said a company representative.
AnubisDAO raised 13,556 ETH in October 2021. equivalent to $60 million at the time — from cryptocurrency investors. Twenty hours later, however, the funds were sent to multiple wallet addresses, resulting in an immediate loss for the investors.
The Blockchain detective ZachXBT appeared to cast doubt on the allegations, stating that the thread was “one of the most average things” he had read.
He added that many of the thread’s assumptions about 0xSisyphus’ role in the purported rug-pulling appeared to be based on “unrelated events without facts.”
They will find it anyway, so here is the reason:
(I don’t think thread is conclusive but nevertheless here it is) https://t.co/BouVcARm9a
— Ledger 🇺🇸 Prometheus of the Plebs (@ledgerstatus) September 29, 2023In addition, it is believed that 0xSisyphus once offered a 1,000 ETH bounty to anyone who could identify the wallet address that depleted the pool and engaged law enforcement in both the United States and Hong Kong, further casting doubt on the new accusations.
“Is Sisyphus at fault for gross negligence for lying about the Anubis team multisig? Unquestionably 100%. Victims could likely file a civil suit,” wrote ZachXBT.
In this instance, ZachXBT observed that negligence is distinct from stealing money from one’s project. “[As far as I know,] Sisyphus was the only team member speaking with the [Department of Homeland Security].”
You really think they did not look at him first and monitor his activity?” asked ZachXBT.
Additionally, he explained that “Beerus” and “Ersan” were the two anonymous users who were most likely liable for the loss of funds during the AnubisDAO scandal.
