New year, new scam. For this one specifically, the flagship scam was $YEAR, a token launched as an airdrop for Ethereum (ETH) users on the EtherWrapped website, media reported. The anonymous creators of the token scammed investors in quite an innovative manner.
Year started with rug pull
2022 began with a rug pull that impacted the whole crypto and DeFi ecosystems. It is not uncommon for projects that launch on the cryptocurrency market to organize token airdrops as a way to gain visibility. That’s exactly what the creators of $YEAR did.
At first, the price of YEAR began to increase. This was not out of the ordinary. What was? The absence of any kind of sell orders. This is highly unusual. Sell orders are customary because investors tend to leave the market as soon as they make a profit. With YEAR, this was not the case.
Increased interest
The price of the token kept increasing, but holders couldn’t sell it. Then, interest in this virtual currency continued to grow. The price practically went through the roof because investors would keep buying more and more.
Price crash
This was inevitable. At one point, the people behind YEAR activated the sell option and sold their holdings. The price crashed minutes before the end of 2021: from almost 0.0009 ETH to 0.000118 ETH.
All of this happened on the EtherWrapped platform, which makes it possible for users to engage with different smart contracts. An analysis by a Web3 expert showed that a certain code function was the reason the team behind $YEAR could block the sale of new tokens. It was called _burnMechanism and looked completely innocent.
Tips for investors moving forward
In 2022, it’s critical that investors watch out about what could happen in terms of similar projects that could result in the same outcome. This is crucial as it would help avoid issues for thousands of investors across the globe. Never invest more than you can afford to lose and buy crypto only after painstaking and in-depth analysis.
The risks of provoking FOMO
Last year, the so-called WallStreetBets movement provoked FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) with different stocks and digital currencies. FOMO is a major risk factor and one that’s difficult to avoid. It can be quite dangerous for users and investors from all over the world. Steer clear of tokens that seem too good to be true.
