• A trader lost over $1 million worth of cryptocurrency due to the 0L Network hard fork
• The hard fork was done without community approval and burned tokens from wallets deemed to have exploited a bug, including from innocent buyers
• The pseudonymous lead developer of 0L Network may be Lucas Geiger, who was previously charged by the SEC for fraudulent behavior
A pseudonymous trader recently lost over $1 million worth of cryptocurrency due to the 0L Network hard fork. The trader, known as NN, lost the money as a result of a hard fork that was implemented without community approval.
Background on the 0L Network Hard Fork
The 0L Network team decided to execute a hard fork in response to a “rogue core member.” This fork wiped out 4% of the total token supply, burning the tokens in wallets the team deemed to have abused a smart contract loophole.
NN claims to have purchased 147 million LBR tokens back in February 2021, worth approximately $147 million at the time. He later joined the protocol’s marketing team.
Trader’s Wallet Impacted Despite No Wrongdoing
Despite having purchased tokens from six different validators, NN’s wallet was forked out due to a single validator the team considered malicious.
The hard fork blacklisted wallets the team internally flagged as having exploited the loophole. However, NN says this tracing was imperfect, affecting innocent wallets as well.
Allegations Against 0L Network Founders
NN alleges the 0L Network founders, particularly lead developer 0D, were aware of the loophole for years but only acted when the tokens gained significant value.
Multiple validators told NN that 0D could be Lucas Geiger, who was previously charged by the SEC for fraudulent behavior related to cryptocurrency projects.
Victims Speak Out
In addition to losing his funds, NN says he and other victims have been mistreated and kicked out of the project’s community channels for speaking out.
The hard fork has provoked backlash from affected users, who argue the team failed to take responsibility for the bug and acted rashly in burning funds.
Concerns Remain Despite Fork
Critically, the loophole exploited by insiders still exists in the new 0L Network codebase. The team has yet to patch the vulnerability that led to the controversial fork.