PAID Network
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 12 → 53. Problems weighed by who is responsible: the subject's own conduct −16, problems around the subject, caused by others −3.2, concerns that are not fraud −3.2; legitimacy credit long-running +10. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| The subject's own conduct | -16 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -3.2 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -3.2 |
| Long-running | +10 |
| Sum | 53 |
Score: 53/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
PAID Network is an Ethereum-based DeFi launchpad and legal-contract protocol whose native PAID token suffered a catastrophic infinite mint exploit on March 5, 2021, resulting in approximately 59.5 million tokens being minted and ~2,040 ETH (~$3 million at the time) extracted before the team intervened. Significant on-chain evidence and community investigators raised allegations that the attack was an insider job or was enabled by gross negligence over a known vulnerability, though the team maintained it was an external private-key compromise. The token has since declined over 99% from its all-time high and retains a negligible market capitalization as of 2025-2026.
Connected Entities
5 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- PAID Network→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- PAID Network→mentioned with→Ethereum(60%)
- PAID Network→mentioned with→Uniswap(70%)
- Uniswap→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- Uniswap→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
Timeline(11 events)
October 2020
PAID Network launches; PAID token introduced as governance and utility token for a DeFi legal-contract and launchpad protocol founded by Kyle Chasse via Master Ventures.
2021
The @WARONRUGS Twitter account publicly warns that PAID's deployer address retains the ability to mint unlimited PAID tokens without multisignature controls, identifying the exact vulnerability later exploited.
18 February 2021
PAID token reaches its all-time high of approximately $6.38 USD.
5 March 2021
At approximately 18:07 UTC, the PAID smart contract is exploited. The attacker mints 59,471,745.571 PAID tokens using a compromised (or insider-controlled) deployer private key. 2,501,203 tokens are sold on Uniswap for ~2,040 ETH (~$3M). The PAID token price drops 85-92%. The team pulls Uniswap liquidity approximately 40 minutes after the attack is detected.
7 March 2021
PAID Network publishes its attack postmortem, attributing the exploit to an accidentally compromised private key and denying insider involvement. The team announces a token relaunch (v2) based on a pre-exploit holdings snapshot.
8 March 2021
Gate.io announces a separate compensation program for its users affected by the PAID Network hack.
April 2021
PAID Network launches its Ignition IDO launchpad. AIOZ Network is among the first projects to hold an IDO on the platform.
May 2021
PAID Network migrates to v2 token contracts with multisignature governance controls implemented. Multiple additional IDO projects launch on Ignition through mid-2021.
2024
PAID token trades at approximately $0.37, down dramatically from its 2021 all-time high.
2025
PAID token trades at approximately $0.093, a further ~75% decline from January 2024 levels.
2026
PAID token trades at approximately $0.00008–$0.00023 USD with negligible market capitalization (~$54,000) and minimal daily trading volume, representing a decline of over 99.99% from its all-time high.
Decision Log
- slot 455369521 · hash H2ktMbd4NndE2krcHY8K31oQK2it6DGARkahF5xgR5Um
- slot 421342872 · hash EHJ9C7xvoyBckgJLsLoiPn197hPnwG36mfX2brGkxdkE
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (2 decisions). 10 of 16 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:58 AM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:49:24 PM
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