BNB Chain is taking legal action against a former employee who allegedly used a tutorial wallet to launch an unauthorized memecoin. The former employee allegedly sold tokens for approximately $638,000.
This incident highlights security risks within blockchain ecosystems and the potential for misuse of company resources by former employees, impacting trust and the integrity of token launches.
BNB Chain announced it is pursuing legal action against a former employee accused of launching an unauthorized memecoin. According to a statement on X, the employee allegedly used a wallet originally intended for a tutorial on token launches. This wallet's seed phrase was reportedly retained by the former employee after their departure, enabling them to create the memecoin, identified as Asteroid Shiba (ASTEROID).
Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported that the former employee deployed the ASTEROID token and used four newly created wallets to purchase a significant portion of its supply, approximately 79.67%. Subsequently, these wallets allegedly sold about 718.8 million tokens for 1,103 BNB, valued at roughly $638,000 at the time of the transaction.
BNB Chain explicitly stated that it did not create, authorize, promote, or participate in the token's creation and has no control over the token or the wallet address. Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao shared BNB Chain’s statement and characterized the former employee as a "scammer," advising users to "Stay SAFU."