Prominent decentralized exchange Uniswap has confirmed that it has fired a prominent developer over his involvement in a $25,000 memecoin rug pull.
The developer in question, AzFlin, or Allen Lin, orchestrated a rug pull hours after initiating the deployment of the FrensTech meme coin.
Uniswap Moves To Fire AzFlinAllen Lin, the Uniswap developer at the center of the storm surrounding the FrensTech meme coin rug pull, has lost his job at Uniswap. The sacking was confirmed in a post on X by Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, with Uniswap moving quickly to distance themselves from the actions of their former employee.
“Wanted to let people know this person is no longer with the company. Not behavior we support or condone.”
AzFlin lost his job at the decentralized exchange following the FrensTech meme coin rug pull that saw investors lose 14 ETH, valued at around $25,900. The meme coin was launched on the social platform of the Coinbase Layer-2 base program, friend.tech.
How The Rug Pull Was OrchestratedA pseudo-anonymous user on X going by the name UniswapVillain initially made the Uniswap community aware of the fact that AzFlin had rug-pulled a meme coin project just hours after creating it. UniswapVillain noted that AzFlin initiated the rug pull by withdrawing support that was previously added to enable the trading of the FRENs token. Once the project had accumulated 14 ETH in fees, AzFlin removed liquidity and pocketed all the funds collected by the project.
The rug pull was orchestrated via the Hop Protocol, a decentralized bridge that allows users to transfer tokens between different blockchains. Furthermore, UniswapVillain added that the developer did not just remove liquidity from the project and meme coin. He also sold all the coins from which he had withdrawn the liquidity. He also added that the situation was particularly concerning, given AzFlin’s association with Uniswap, one of the most prominent decentralized exchanges.
“Frenstech (@FrensTech) $FRENS was deployed a few hours ago by the dev, @AzFlina Uniswap employee. One hour and four minutes ago, he effectively rugged the project, moving 14 ETH off of Base chain through HOP. Multiple people have confirmed he is the dev, and there were numerous early Uniswap employee followers on Twitter. He removed liquidity he added from fees and pocketed 14 ETH of fees. He sold the tokens he removed from liquidity even. This is wild to me that someone who is doxxed and works for Uniswap would do this.”
AzFlin Calls Sacking Net NeutralAn unremorseful AzFlin called his sacking “net neutral,” boasting that he had gained 600 new followers and the status of a crypto villain on X. While people have wondered why someone who is doxxed and works for Uniswap would do this, AzFlin has remained unrepentant. The bad actor simply gave an update about losing their job on Twitter.
“Got fired from UniSwap but gained new followers and Crypto Twitter villain status.”
He also changed his bio on X, adding the words AzFlin “Unemployment arc” and further commented on the issue:
"To those who think I rugged 14E: that came from dev taxes. It belonged to me. I know whatever I say, the low IQ CT narrative has already been spun. I will not comment further on this anymore, everything is on chain.”
The Growing Menace Of Rug PullsRug pulls have become increasingly common in the crypto space in recent times, primarily impacting newer tokens and decentralized exchanges. This comes against the backdrop of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum making record price moments that are not actionable, leaving investors desperate for a hefty profit. This is why traders should not buy into the hype of new projects and tokens pushed by influencers. Instead, they must do their own research and invest in reputable projects.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.