AssangeDao to rug pull? Community reacts to unexplained ETH transfers

Saif Naqvi

AssangeDao has come under heavy fire after transferring a notable fraction of its Ethereum fund without offering any valid explanations thus far. From ‘rug pull’ to ‘scam DAO’, several members of the community were livid with the recent transfers and demanded an explanation.

Source: Twitter

Blockchain activity tracker Gnosis Safe showed that the multi-signature address used by AssangeDAO to hold raised ETH funds transferred a total of 583.755 ETH on 9th and 10th April, nearly 5% of its total ETH holdings. Based on ETH’s press-time level, the value of transferred funds amounted to nearly $1.7 Million.

Community Reacts

Members of the crypto community were not caught napping and shared their disappointment on Twitter as AssangeDao failed to alert investors of the transfer.

Source: Twitter

Pseudonymous user @liaoHQ1 outlined the ETH transactions and cried foul over money laundering.

Source: Twitter

@arabianofelix went as far ahead to state that the transfers were possible signs of a rug pull.

Background

Decentralized Autonomous Organization AssangeDao started its fundraising efforts in early February and raised close to $45 Million in less than a week, making it the largest JuiceBoxDAO raise in history. JuiceBoxDAO serves as a crowdfunding website for a DAO.

The project, which includes members of the Assange Family, launched in December with the sole purpose of freeing Wiki Leaks founder, Julian Assange, from imprisonment. Crypto investors who resonate with AssangeDao’s vision donate ETH to the cause and receive JUSTICE tokens in return, which can be used to vote on future DAO proposals. The project had bagged a $31K donation from Ethereum founder, Vitalik Buterin In February.

AssangeDAO’s plan of action is to bid on an NFT produced by digital artist Pak, who launched the “Censored” collection in a collaboration with Julian Assange. Proceeds from the auction will be used towards Assange’s legal defense.

Julian Assange was sentenced to prison in April 2019 after failing to appear before the court for his hearing on possible espionage charges. Through his media organization WikiLeaks, Assange leaked classified documents from various governments and companies to the public.

AssangeDao – Guilty or Not Guitly?

While there is no law preventing DAOs from transferring large amounts of funds without a prior announcement, it certainly is unusual and in some cases, unethical. This is precisely why some investors are worried about AssangeDao’s lack of responsibility for the issue.

It’s quite possible that AssangeDao was transferring the deposited Ether to individuals fighting for Assange’s freedom, but until an official confirmation is made, one can do no more than just speculate.