Audit log

Every state-changing event for Hope Finance: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions are designed to carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key. Archive coverage is still being backfilled, so each decision below reports its own snapshot status rather than assuming one exists.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-05-28 16:12:41Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 422,754,226

   sig

   5h2CThRhsCWz…B6JcS6s5copyexplorer ↗

   hash

   2pkw3WmpXJV9…CVzTDXY5copysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (8016 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"e4e57b34-106b-4e8b-9cb3-ff3e96748541","kind":"publish","page_slug":"hope-finance","published_at":"2026-05-28T16:12:41.186Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Hope Finance","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2m-stolen-from-users-funds","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://hopefinance.gitbook.io/hope-finance/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/largest-exit-scam-on-arbitrum-hope-finance-drained-for-2m/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptoslate.com/defi-protocol-hope-finance-hacked-for-2m-at-launch/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2m-stolen-from-users-funds","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptoslate.com/defi-protocol-hope-finance-hacked-for-2m-at-launch/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/largest-exit-scam-on-arbitrum-hope-finance-drained-for-2m/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://blockchainreporter.net/defi-protocol-hope-finance-loses-2m-in-hack-as-scammer-claims-ownership-of-entire-genesis-protocol/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2m-stolen-from-users-funds","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/largest-exit-scam-on-arbitrum-hope-finance-drained-for-2m/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptoslate.com/defi-protocol-hope-finance-hacked-for-2m-at-launch/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://crypto.news/scammer-steals-2m-user-funds-from-hope-finance/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptoslate.com/defi-protocol-hope-finance-hacked-for-2m-at-launch/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2m-stolen-from-users-funds","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/largest-exit-scam-on-arbitrum-hope-finance-drained-for-2m/","type":"other","url":""}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"CoinTelegraph: Hope Finance exploit results in $2M stolen from users' funds","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2m-stolen-from-users-funds"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CertiK: Hope Finance","type":"research","url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CryptoPotato: Largest Exit Scam on Arbitrum — Hope Finance Drained for $2M","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptopotato.com/largest-exit-scam-on-arbitrum-hope-finance-drained-for-2m/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CoinCu News: Hope Finance Appears Rug Pull, Scammers Transferred $1.86 Million ETH To Tornado Cash","type":"news_article","url":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CryptoSlate: DeFi protocol Hope Finance hacked for $2M at launch","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/defi-protocol-hope-finance-hacked-for-2m-at-launch/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto.news: Scammer steals $2m user funds from Hope Finance","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/scammer-steals-2m-user-funds-from-hope-finance/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"BlockchainReporter: DeFi Protocol Hope Finance Loses $2M In Hack","type":"news_article","url":"https://blockchainreporter.net/defi-protocol-hope-finance-loses-2m-in-hack-as-scammer-claims-ownership-of-entire-genesis-protocol/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DeFi Planet: Hope Finance Exploit Results in $2 Million Loss of User Funds","type":"news_article","url":"https://defi-planet.com/2023/02/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2-million-loss-of-user-funds/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Hope Finance GitBook Documentation","type":"official","url":"https://hopefinance.gitbook.io/hope-finance/"}],"summary":"Hope Finance was an Arbitrum-based DeFi protocol that launched in January 2023, positioning itself around an algorithmic stablecoin pegged to 0.001 ETH. On February 20, 2023 — the same day the platform went live — approximately $2 million (1,095 ETH) was drained from its Genesis Rewards Pool in what blockchain security firms CertiK and PeckShield assessed as an insider-orchestrated exit scam, making it the largest exit scam recorded on Arbitrum at that time. Stolen funds were bridged to Ethereum and routed through Tornado Cash; the protocol's website subsequently went offline and the team became unreachable.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-01-01","event":"Hope Finance Twitter account created; project announced plans for an algorithmic stablecoin (HOPE token) pegged to 0.001 ETH on Arbitrum.","source":"CoinTelegraph","source_url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/hope-finance-exploit-results-in-2m-stolen-from-users-funds"},{"date":"2023-02-01","event":"Cognitos completes smart contract audit of Hope Finance, flagging reentrancy risks and an incorrect modifier but marking the contract as having passed the audit.","source":"CoinCu News","source_url":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/"},{"date":"2023-02-20","event":"Hope Finance launches on Arbitrum. On the same day, the Genesis Rewards Pool is drained of approximately $2 million (1,095 ETH) via a fake router contract approved by the project's own multisig signers.","source":"CryptoPotato","source_url":"https://cryptopotato.com/largest-exit-scam-on-arbitrum-hope-finance-drained-for-2m/"},{"date":"2023-02-20","event":"Stolen funds bridged from Arbitrum to Ethereum via CelrBridge and deposited into Tornado Cash across three wallet addresses.","source":"CertiK","source_url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance"},{"date":"2023-02-20","event":"Hope Finance team posts on Twitter, identifying alleged attacker as Ugwoke Pascal Chukwuebuka and sharing a photograph of the individual with a voter ID card.","source":"CoinCu News","source_url":"https://coincu.com/168666-hope-finance-appears-rug-pull/"},{"date":"2023-02-21","event":"CertiK and PeckShield publish on-chain analyses confirming the exit scam and tracing fund flows to Tornado Cash. CertiK characterizes the incident as driven by centralization vulnerabilities and multisig mishandling.","source":"CertiK","source_url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/hope-finance"},{"date":"2023-02-21","event":"Cognitos contact person at Hope Finance reportedly deactivates their account. Hope Finance website goes offline; Discord becomes inaccessible.","source":"CryptoSlate","source_url":"https://cryptoslate.com/defi-protocol-hope-finance-hacked-for-2m-at-launch/"}]},"v":1}

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2. #2rescoreby systemsystem

   2026-10-27 06:05:10Z
   Score: 4 → 0 (-4)
   Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 4 → 0. The page establishes that the subject is itself a scheme, so the score is 0.
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 461,965,094

   sig

   5pYCNocPQXsj…Me1D1XHxcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   BshjEe6tXLmR…KTuQKuLPcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (518 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system","decided_at":"2026-10-27T06:05:10.019Z","decision":"rescore","investigation_id":"e4e57b34-106b-4e8b-9cb3-ff3e96748541","new_score":0,"page_slug":"hope-finance","prev_score":4,"reason":"Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 4 → 0. The page establishes that the subject is itself a scheme, so the score is 0.","score_delta":-4,"score_model":"v2","sequence_num":2,"submission_content_hash":null,"submission_id":null,"submission_kind":null,"submission_valence":null,"v":1}

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3. #3reviewby reviewerreviewer

   2026-11-02 05:09:50Z
   Score: 0 → 0 (no score change)
   The core incident facts (Feb 20, 2023 drain, 477 WETH and about 1.06M USDC, CelrBridge, 1,095 ETH to Tornado Cash, 3-of-4 multisig approval, Cognitos audit divergence) are well supported by CertiK, CryptoPotato, Cointelegraph and CryptoSlate. Two errors need fixing. The summary dates the protocol launch to January 2023, which is when the Twitter account was created, since the platform went live on Feb 20. The page also calls Tornado Cash 'sanctioned' in the present tense, though OFAC delisted it in March 2025. Some attributions are loose: PeckShield is credited with the exit-scam assessment, the CertiK post is dated Feb 28 rather than Feb 21, and the Flex Yang claim is unsourced. I did not fetch the GitBook, Crypto.news or BlockchainReporter pages.
   anchoranchored

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   ●mainnet-betaslot 464,372,453

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   5ekzVPxz4G2o…gRwtEbftcopyexplorer ↗

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   CJ2u2gCyrdrm…ndwUpKB4copysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (1605 B) ▸

   {"actor":"reviewer","artifact_identity":"f42aa3579488db4e8c56219fa334379e","decided_at":"2026-11-02T05:09:50.889Z","decision":"review","disputed_pct":0.3,"findings_hash":"6CWpiieoME3xbELtEv1bxtzDSy4DRqrvyavhVfabuJPz","investigation_id":"e4e57b34-106b-4e8b-9cb3-ff3e96748541","judge_def_hash":"8800307026131ea9d5da939d32b9a1f1884b2b84a5de33c8e87931d36f38d0f8","new_score":0,"omissions":{"material":0,"total":1},"page_content_hash":"85f4d4b3c0ea5724ccba3ac51732405d86d03b3469fdb8981a35079a6306f137","page_slug":"hope-finance","prev_score":0,"reason":"The core incident facts (Feb 20, 2023 drain, 477 WETH and about 1.06M USDC, CelrBridge, 1,095 ETH to Tornado Cash, 3-of-4 multisig approval, Cognitos audit divergence) are well supported by CertiK, CryptoPotato, Cointelegraph and CryptoSlate. Two errors need fixing. The summary dates the protocol launch to January 2023, which is when the Twitter account was created, since the platform went live on Feb 20. The page also calls Tornado Cash 'sanctioned' in the present tense, though OFAC delisted it in March 2025. Some attributions are loose: PeckShield is credited with the exit-scam assessment, the CertiK post is dated Feb 28 rather than Feb 21, and the Flex Yang claim is unsourced. I did not fetch the GitBook, Crypto.news or BlockchainReporter pages.","reviewer_def_hash":"bc11388ce4bc4deea1b064fea362663ae06e3f4f687f99604769044d6ffba770","score_delta":0,"sequence_num":3,"subject_status":"shut_down","subject_status_contradicts_page":false,"submission_content_hash":null,"submission_id":null,"submission_kind":null,"submission_valence":null,"v":1}

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4. #4review reviseby judgejudge

   2026-11-02 05:09:51Z
   Score: 0 → 0 (no score change)
   The core incident facts (the February 20, 2023 drain, the 3-of-4 multisig approval, the CelrBridge route and the Tornado Cash deposits) are confirmed by CertiK and press sources (claim_findings[3], [4]). Of 10 claims, 3 are disputed or unverifiable (30%): the summary dates the launch to January 2023 when the platform went live on February 20 (claim_findings[1]), and two attributions have no source (claim_findings[6], [8]). Tornado Cash is described as currently sanctioned although OFAC delisted it in March 2025 (claim_findings[0]), and PeckShield and the 02-21 CertiK date are loosely attributed (claim_findings[2], [9]). These errors are at the edge of the minor band and do not touch the central allegation, so a modest penalty and corrections are warranted.
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 464,372,458

   sig

   3rPrvoXxNdrc…fSSLsdzicopyexplorer ↗

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   5TZiRDcokeXb…ZoH73UiAcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (1407 B) ▸

   {"actor":"judge","artifact_identity":"f42aa3579488db4e8c56219fa334379e","band_override":null,"decided_at":"2026-11-02T05:09:50.889Z","decision":"review_revise","delist_requested":false,"disputed_pct":0.3,"investigation_id":"e4e57b34-106b-4e8b-9cb3-ff3e96748541","judge_def_hash":"8800307026131ea9d5da939d32b9a1f1884b2b84a5de33c8e87931d36f38d0f8","new_score":0,"page_slug":"hope-finance","prev_score":0,"reason":"The core incident facts (the February 20, 2023 drain, the 3-of-4 multisig approval, the CelrBridge route and the Tornado Cash deposits) are confirmed by CertiK and press sources (claim_findings[3], [4]). Of 10 claims, 3 are disputed or unverifiable (30%): the summary dates the launch to January 2023 when the platform went live on February 20 (claim_findings[1]), and two attributions have no source (claim_findings[6], [8]). Tornado Cash is described as currently sanctioned although OFAC delisted it in March 2025 (claim_findings[0]), and PeckShield and the 02-21 CertiK date are loosely attributed (claim_findings[2], [9]). These errors are at the edge of the minor band and do not touch the central allegation, so a modest penalty and corrections are warranted.","reviewer_def_hash":"bc11388ce4bc4deea1b064fea362663ae06e3f4f687f99604769044d6ffba770","score_delta":0,"sequence_num":4,"submission_content_hash":null,"submission_id":null,"submission_kind":null,"submission_valence":null,"v":1}

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5. #5rescoreby systemsystem

   2026-11-02 05:09:52Z
   Score: 0 → 13 (+13)
   Recalculated after the fact-check of 2026-11-02. Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 0 → 13. The page establishes that the subject is itself a scheme, so the score is 0; 2 section(s) set aside until a failed fact-check is resolved.
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 464,372,603

   sig

   kex2du321LAH…GcNvcKdvcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   GZzPCrw3ix3y…wu5ZhLzgcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (631 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system","decided_at":"2026-11-02T05:09:50.889Z","decision":"rescore","investigation_id":"e4e57b34-106b-4e8b-9cb3-ff3e96748541","new_score":13,"page_slug":"hope-finance","prev_score":0,"reason":"Recalculated after the fact-check of 2026-11-02. Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 0 → 13. The page establishes that the subject is itself a scheme, so the score is 0; 2 section(s) set aside until a failed fact-check is resolved.","score_delta":13,"score_model":"v2","sequence_num":5,"submission_content_hash":null,"submission_id":null,"submission_kind":null,"submission_valence":null,"v":1}

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