IBX Investors Left in the Dark After $24M Rug Pull

The Solana-based decentralized exchange IBX has left users hanging after executing a $24 million rug pull through the sale of the Artic (ARTIC) memecoin.

According to a tweet by the pseudonymous crypto trader and investor Anon Vee, IBX deployed several gimmicks in rugging its users, including creating a team-run poll and claiming it had refunded dozens of Solana (SOL) while sending the coins to several team-controlled addresses.

What Happened?

A few days ago, IBX launched a presale to raise $3.2m for ARTIC. The plan was to refund presale participants who were not selected. Notably, the omnichain liquidity layer Orderly Network incubated IBX; that is, the team behind the network nurtured IBX and guided it through the fundamental phases of development until the exchange was strong enough to stand on its own.

The presale raised more than 160,000 SOL worth approximately $24.9m at the coin’s then trading price of $156. While participants expected a $21.8m refund as initially agreed, the IBX team decided to increase the cap of the memecoin.

To increase the presale cap without raising concerns, IBX created a poll that claimed to let the community decide. However, the team fully controlled the website. The options on the poll included raising the token’s cap or maintaining the original limit of the presale. As expected, the team voted to increase the cap to around $15m and to refund participants 65,000 SOL worth $9.7m.

On October 18, the IBX team posted a tweet claiming they had refunded over 65,000 SOL; however, Anon Vee insisted they sent the coins to multiple addresses they created. The comment section of the IBX tweet is a testament to Anon Vee’s claims, as no user has confirmed that they have received any SOL from the IBX team.

IBX Pulls Artic’s Liquidity

While ARTIC presale participants complained about not receiving any SOL, the IBX team launched the memecoin with a $50m market cap. Anon Vee explained that IBX should have created a claim page for users who participated in the presale before adding liquidity to the token.

Within a few minutes after launch, IBX pulled Artic’s liquidity, dumping the market cap from $50m to $6m, all before most presale participants could claim their tokens. So far, only the MEXC crypto exchange and LBank have listed ARTIC for trading.

Meanwhile, Orderly Network has clarified that it did not back the token launch and has distanced itself from any future involvement with IBX. IBX claims it is “doing our best” to resolve the matter.