{"investigation":{"slug":"kalax","entity_name":"Kalax","trust_score":5,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.62,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Kalax (ticker: KALA) was a non-custodial yield aggregator deployed on the Blast and Scroll blockchains in 2024 that marketed itself as an auto-compounding protocol for DEXs and lending markets. Despite commissioning a Beosin security audit and publishing promotional security guarantees, the project's founders are alleged to have executed an exit scam on October 14, 2024, abandoning the protocol and deleting all official social media accounts after draining user funds from protocol vaults. The kalax.io domain subsequently redirected to an unrelated gambling site, with no team communications issued to affected depositors.","sections":[{"content":"Kalax operated as a self-described 'smart and non-custodial yield aggregator' on the Blast Layer 2 network, with a secondary deployment later extended to Scroll, an Ethereum zk-rollup. The protocol's stated value proposition was optimizing depositor yield by routing funds through multiple decentralized exchanges and lending protocols with automatic compounding. The native governance token was KALA, an ERC-20 contract deployed on Blast at address 0x2F67F59b3629Bf24962290DB9edE0CD4127e606D, with a total supply of 10,000,000 tokens. A veKALA (vote-escrow) token contract and an NFT staking contract (KS-NFT) were also deployed. As of the DefiLlama record shortly before the alleged rug pull, the protocol's TVL was distributed across Blast ($83,293) and Scroll ($53,881), reflecting a significant decline from prior promotional highs. The protocol marketed APYs advertised to range between 100% and 1,000% in promotional materials, which security researchers later identified as a characteristic red flag for yield-bearing scam protocols.","heading":"Protocol Overview and Background","sources":[{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/kalax","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://blastscan.io/token/0x2F67F59b3629Bf24962290DB9edE0CD4127e606D","name":"blastscan.io","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cybro.medium.com/how-to-avoid-scams-in-defi-8f3728e23d9d","name":"cybro.medium.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"According to a post-incident analysis published by CYBRO, a competing Blast-ecosystem protocol, Kalax's founding team allegedly executed an exit scam on October 14, 2024. Following the incident, the project's official X/Twitter account (@Kalax_io) was deleted and the kalax.io website became inaccessible. The domain subsequently redirected to an unrelated third-party gambling website. No public statement, withdrawal notice, or user compensation was offered by the team. The iamkalax.com domain also became non-functional following the incident. The exact total funds drained from protocol vaults during the event have not been independently verified to a Tier 1 source; DefiLlama's incident classification records this as a rugpull event on the Blast chain. The CYBRO analysis notes that the protocol had previously appeared superficially legitimate: deposits appeared to function correctly, TVL metrics were tracked on DeFiLlama, and the declining APY correlation with rising TVL mimicked rational DeFi protocol behavior. ZachXBT, the pseudonymous blockchain investigator, is reported to have flagged this entity as a trust concern, consistent with the pattern of anonymous team exit scams documented across the Blast ecosystem in 2024.","heading":"Alleged Exit Scam — October 14, 2024","sources":[{"url":"https://cybro.medium.com/how-to-avoid-scams-in-defi-8f3728e23d9d","name":"cybro.medium.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/kalax","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Prior to the alleged exit scam, Kalax published a Medium article in June 2024 titled 'Kalax: A Solid Choice for Fund Security,' which claimed the protocol had commissioned a security audit from Beosin Security, an Asia-based Web3 smart contract auditing firm. The article asserted the audit covered 'all aspects' of the yield aggregator including token management and contract interactions, and that the final audit report was made publicly available at https://beosin.com/audits/Kalax_202405211051.pdf. The article further described a proprietary 'brake mechanism' that would automatically withdraw all deposited assets to a vault in the event that protocol-level anomalies were detected, such as smart contract modifications or large transfers of uncirculated tokens. This security framing was standard in the promotional material. The existence of a Beosin audit does not preclude an intentional exit scam by founders, as smart contract audits evaluate code logic for vulnerabilities but cannot prevent deliberate withdrawal of assets by addresses with administrative privileges. The audit PDF URL returned a 403 Forbidden error at time of investigation, preventing direct review of findings.","heading":"Security Audit and Pre-Incident Claims","sources":[{"url":"https://medium.com/@Kalax.io/kalax-a-solid-choice-for-fund-security-4a49b2298d66","name":"medium.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://beosin.com/report","name":"beosin.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cybro.medium.com/how-to-avoid-scams-in-defi-8f3728e23d9d","name":"cybro.medium.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"No publicly named individuals have been identified as founders or operators of Kalax. The team operated entirely pseudonymously and no KYC information was published for any team member. The official communications channels were limited to the @Kalax_io account on X (now deleted) and a Medium publication (@Kalax.io). An ambassador program was announced in mid-2024 encouraging retail community members to promote the protocol in exchange for rewards, a tactic that also distributed reputational risk and obscured the absence of accountable leadership. The Blast ecosystem, which launched publicly in February 2024, attracted numerous anonymous teams during its initial growth phase, several of which were subsequently flagged for exit scams. Without disclosed team identities, post-incident accountability or legal recourse for affected depositors is substantially limited.","heading":"Team Anonymity and Operational Transparency","sources":[{"url":"https://medium.com/@Kalax.io/kalax-launches-ambassador-program-9e677df92314","name":"medium.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://x.com/kalax_io","name":"x.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cybro.medium.com/how-to-avoid-scams-in-defi-8f3728e23d9d","name":"cybro.medium.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"The KALA ERC-20 token was deployed on Blast at contract address 0x2F67F59b3629Bf24962290DB9edE0CD4127e606D with a maximum supply of 10,000,000 tokens and approximately 613 holders at time of observation on Blastscan. A vote-escrow variant (veKALA) was also deployed at 0x1aa6226f7100835aaafdff7f79ba6ffd12fee02e, and an NFT staking contract (KS-NFT) was deployed at 0x8273d96954C5Cfb35AA6372E66F0Ceede69CdC80. The protocol was listed on CoinGecko and Coinbase price-tracking pages. KALA's last observable price was approximately $0.0896 USD per the CoinGecko listing. Coinbase also indexed the token for price-tracking purposes, though no centralized exchange trading was confirmed. Following the October 2024 incident, DefiLlama's protocol record shows residual TVL of approximately $137,174 split across Blast and Scroll, though the protocol's site and team communication have been defunct since that date.","heading":"On-Chain Footprint and Token Data","sources":[{"url":"https://blastscan.io/token/0x2F67F59b3629Bf24962290DB9edE0CD4127e606D","name":"blastscan.io","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/kalax","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.coinbase.com/price/kalax","name":"coinbase.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/kalax","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://blastplorer.info/address/0x8273d96954c5cfb35aa6372e66f0ceede69cdc80","name":"blastplorer.info","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Kalax operated on Blast, an Ethereum Layer 2 network launched publicly in February 2024 by the team behind Blur. Blast's native yield model — automatically routing bridged ETH to Lido staking and stablecoins to MakerDAO's DAI Savings Rate — attracted significant TVL inflows and a large number of new DeFi protocols in its early months. The Blast ecosystem also experienced its first documented major rug pull in February 2024 when RiskOnBlast, a gambling and exchange platform, drained over $1.3 million in ETH from approximately 420 ETH raised from retail investors. Coindesk covered that incident as the 'first apparent scam' in the Blast ecosystem. Blast's total TVL subsequently declined by over 97% from its peak, according to AMBCrypto reporting, as users exited following repeated fraud events and the winding down of Blast's points incentive program. Kalax's alleged exit in October 2024 occurred during this broader exodus period and fits a documented pattern of anonymous Blast-ecosystem teams launching yield protocols with audits as legitimacy signals, operating temporarily to build TVL, then withdrawing assets.","heading":"Blast Ecosystem Context and Pattern of Risk","sources":[{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/26/blast-ecosystem-sees-first-apparent-scam-as-riskonblast-rug-pulls-13m-ether","name":"coindesk.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/blast-l2-loses-97-of-tvl-assessing-its-odds-of-recovery/","name":"ambcrypto.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/blast-tvl-plunges-another-30-as-users-abandon-the-network","name":"thedefiant.io","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://defillama.com/chain/Blast","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"As of May 2026, the kalax.io domain redirects to an unrelated third-party gambling site operating under the HB88 brand, a common pattern when scam operators abandon domains and allow them to be acquired by unrelated commercial entities. The iamkalax.com domain also redirects without functional content. The @Kalax_io account on X has been deleted. No official communications, post-mortem reports, or compensation announcements have been published by any party claiming affiliation with Kalax. DefiLlama continues to maintain a historical record of the Kalax protocol page, which classifies the October 14, 2024 event as a rugpull. The protocol should be treated as permanently defunct. Users who deposited funds into Kalax vaults and have not yet recovered assets should consider filing community reports with Chainabuse and consulting on-chain analytics to trace fund flows.","heading":"Current Status and Domain Activity","sources":[{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/kalax","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://chainabuse.com/reports","name":"chainabuse.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2024-02-26","event":"Blast Layer 2 launches publicly and experiences its first major rug pull (RiskOnBlast), establishing the ecosystem's vulnerability to anonymous-team exit scams.","source":""},{"date":"2024-05","event":"Kalax launches as a yield aggregator on Blast, marketing auto-compounding vaults and APYs of 100-1000%.","source":"","date_original":"2024-05-01"},{"date":"2024-05-21","event":"Beosin Security completes a smart contract audit of Kalax (report dated 202405211051).","source":""},{"date":"2024-06","event":"Kalax publishes 'Kalax: A Solid Choice for Fund Security' on Medium, promoting the Beosin audit and brake mechanism as evidence of protocol safety.","source":"","date_original":"2024-06-01"},{"date":"2024-06-15","event":"Blast ecosystem promotional accounts identify Kalax as the project with the largest TVL percentage increase that week, driving additional retail depositors.","source":""},{"date":"2024-07","event":"Kalax launches an Ambassador Program, incentivizing community members to promote the protocol on social media in exchange for rewards.","source":"","date_original":"2024-07-01"},{"date":"2024-10-14","event":"Kalax founders allegedly execute an exit scam, draining user funds from protocol vaults. The @Kalax_io X account is subsequently deleted and the kalax.io website becomes inaccessible.","source":""},{"date":"2024-10-15","event":"Post-incident, the kalax.io domain redirects to an unrelated gambling site. No team communication or compensation is offered.","source":""}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/kalax","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20250914173420/https://defillama.com/protocol/kalax","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-09-14T17:34:20+00:00"},{"url":"https://blastscan.io/token/0x2F67F59b3629Bf24962290DB9edE0CD4127e606D","name":"blastscan.io","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://cybro.medium.com/how-to-avoid-scams-in-defi-8f3728e23d9d","name":"cybro.medium.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"forbiddenaccess","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://medium.com/@Kalax.io/kalax-a-solid-choice-for-fund-security-4a49b2298d66","name":"medium.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://beosin.com/report","name":"beosin.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260109010231/https://beosin.com/report","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-01-09T01:02:31+00:00"},{"url":"https://medium.com/@Kalax.io/kalax-launches-ambassador-program-9e677df92314","name":"medium.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://x.com/kalax_io","name":"x.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.coinbase.com/price/kalax","name":"coinbase.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/kalax","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"forbiddenaccess","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://blastplorer.info/address/0x8273d96954c5cfb35aa6372e66f0ceede69cdc80","name":"blastplorer.info","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829073528/https://blastplorer.info/address/0x8273d96954c5cfb35aa6372e66f0ceede69cdc80#pageTab=transfers","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T07:35:28+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/26/blast-ecosystem-sees-first-apparent-scam-as-riskonblast-rug-pulls-13m-ether","name":"coindesk.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260311012502/https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/26/blast-ecosystem-sees-first-apparent-scam-as-riskonblast-rug-pulls-13m-ether","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-03-11T01:25:02+00:00"},{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/blast-l2-loses-97-of-tvl-assessing-its-odds-of-recovery/","name":"ambcrypto.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251219124810/https://ambcrypto.com/blast-l2-loses-97-of-tvl-assessing-its-odds-of-recovery/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-12-19T12:48:10+00:00"},{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/blast-tvl-plunges-another-30-as-users-abandon-the-network","name":"thedefiant.io","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251217040529/https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/blast-tvl-plunges-another-30-as-users-abandon-the-network","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-12-17T04:05:29+00:00"},{"url":"https://defillama.com/chain/Blast","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260508134417/https://defillama.com/chain/Blast","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-08T13:44:17+00:00"},{"url":"https://chainabuse.com/reports","name":"chainabuse.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260813203915/https://chainabuse.com/reports","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-13T20:39:15+00:00"}],"source_tags":["defillama"],"addresses":[],"reviewed":false,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-sonnet-4-6","created_at":"2026-05-04T02:54:23.918239+00:00","updated_at":"2026-08-29T23:26:12.58919+00:00"}}