EOS-based wallet vanishes, taking $52 million with it

By Will Heasman

A potential exit scam has struck the EOS community, a report revealed on Monday. A Chinese digital wallet dubbed "EOS Ecosystem" disappeared, taking with it an estimated $52 million in customer funds. 

Suspicions raised after it was discovered that addresses associated with EOS Ecosystem had been virtually cleaned out. Per the report, a little under 500 EOS in holdings (approximately $1,265) remained in situ. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that over 890,000 EOS (around $2.3 million) had been removed that morning.

Following the trail, analysts tracked down several other addresses linked to EOS Ecosystem; they too had been completely emptied. Investigators also discovered that the main account had been drained of 19.3 million EOS—equivalent to around $52 million. 

According to transaction data, a large chunk of the funds has been transferred to Huobi. The exchange has since pledged to freeze the funds as soon as they're discovered.

What is EOS Ecosystem?

The investigative report alleges that a team called "w.io" professed to be developers of an EOS wallet called Starteos. Investors were then baited into depositing with promises of a high rate of returns.

Since the release of the open-source blockchain software EOSIO, several scams have allegedly touted the EOS name as a means of luring in victims from the EOS community. 

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