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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"0edb207c-56e3-408f-a39d-9515d8de7bf8","kind":"publish","page_slug":"evolved-apes-nft","published_at":"2026-05-31T06:59:27.325Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Evolved Apes NFT","sections":[{"content":"Evolved Apes launched its public NFT sale on September 24, 2021, offering 10,000 unique profile-picture NFTs hosted on OpenSea. The collection sold out within approximately ten minutes, generating roughly 798 ETH for the project treasury. The anonymous developer operating under the pseudonym 'Evil Ape' had publicly promised to use proceeds to fund a blockchain-based fighting game, pay the collection's artist, and support marketing. Approximately one week after the mint, Evil Ape executed a series of on-chain transactions to drain the full 798 ETH from the project wallet — equivalent to approximately $2.7 million at the time — and simultaneously took down the official project website and Twitter account. The artist who created the NFT artwork was among those left unpaid. Because a 4% secondary-sale royalty remained coded into the smart contract, Evil Ape continued to receive passive income from ongoing OpenSea trades even after disappearing.","heading":"The Rug Pull","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"VICE: Investors Spent Millions on Evolved Apes NFTs. Then They Got Scammed.","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CoinTelegraph: Evolved Apes NFT creator allegedly absconds with $2.7 million","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/evolved-apes-nft-creator-allegedly-absconds-with-2-7-million"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Halborn: Explained — The Evolved Apes Rug Pull","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-evolved-apes-rug-pull-september-2021"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Quadriga Initiative: Evolved Apes Rug Pull Case Study","type":"research","url":"https://www.quadrigainitiative.com/casestudy/evolvedapesrugpull.php"}]},{"content":"On June 6, 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced charges against three UK nationals — Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan, all aged 23 at the time of charging — in connection with the Evolved Apes scheme. Each defendant was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, both carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. According to the indictment, Atcha and Waleedh aggressively marketed the Evolved Apes collection and hired a social media influencer to promote the project. Waleedh subsequently identified himself to a cryptocurrency exchange as the project's lead marketing manager in order to access funds that had been temporarily frozen, and upon gaining access transferred those funds to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by Hassan. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated: 'Digital art may be new, but old rules still apply: Making false promises for money is illegal.' The three defendants allegedly laundered the misappropriated funds through multiple cryptocurrency transactions to their personal accounts to conceal proceeds.","heading":"Law Enforcement Response and Charges","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ SDNY Press Release: Three UK Nationals Charged in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/three-united-kingdom-nationals-charged-connection-evolved-apes-nft-scam"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CoinDesk: U.S. Charges Three in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/06/06/us-charges-three-in-connection-with-evolved-apes-nft-scam"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Decrypt: Feds Charge UK Nationals With $3 Million Evolved Apes Ethereum NFT Scam","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/234302/evolved-apes-nft-game-ethereum-crypto-rug-pull"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DL News: US charges three UK nationals in connection with Evolved Apes NFT rug pull","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/us-charges-three-in-connection-with-nft-rugpull-scam/"}]},{"content":"The Evolved Apes project operated entirely under anonymous identities, with 'Evil Ape' as the sole named authority controlling the project wallet. No verified real-world identities were disclosed to investors prior to the mint. Community members later identified several warning signs that preceded the rug pull: project announcements became noticeably unprofessional in the days following the September 24 sale; leaders stopped appearing in community channels; social-media giveaway winners never received promised NFT prizes; and the collection's artist publicly noted they had not been paid. The use of a single-signature wallet — in which one individual held unilateral control over all project funds — was identified post-hoc as a key structural vulnerability that enabled the theft.","heading":"Anonymous Team and Pre-Launch Red Flags","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"VICE: Investors Spent Millions on Evolved Apes NFTs. Then They Got Scammed.","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Halborn: Explained — The Evolved Apes Rug Pull","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-evolved-apes-rug-pull-september-2021"}]},{"content":"Following the rug pull, a subset of Evolved Apes holders organized under the banner 'Fight Back Apes,' led by a community member known as Mike_Cryptobull. The initiative aimed to honor the original project's promises: existing Evolved Apes holders were eligible to claim free Fight Back Apes NFTs (paying only gas fees) using the same artwork from the original collection. In contrast to the Evolved Apes structure, Fight Back Apes adopted a multi-signature wallet requiring approval from multiple parties before any funds could be moved. In early 2022, 3D avatar company Daz 3D announced a formal collaboration with the Fight Back Apes community to develop a new NFT collection, providing some residual value to original holders. The project represented an early example of a scammed NFT community attempting self-organized recovery.","heading":"Community Takeover: Fight Back Apes","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"PR Newswire: Daz 3D and Fight Back Apes Announce NFT Collection","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/daz-3d-and-fight-back-apes-announce-stunning-nft-collection-bringing-renewed-value-to-the-community-301491357.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"VICE: Investors Spent Millions on Evolved Apes NFTs. Then They Got Scammed.","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"The Gamer: NFT Developer Runs Off With $2.7 Million","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.thegamer.com/nft-evolved-apes-scam/"}]},{"content":"The Evolved Apes incident occurred during the peak of the 2021 NFT bull market and became one of the most widely cited early examples of an NFT rug pull. It drew sustained media coverage from outlets including VICE, CoinTelegraph, PC Gamer, and CBR, exposing the risks of anonymous NFT teams to a broad public audience. Security researchers and industry commentators pointed to the case as evidence of structural vulnerabilities common to early NFT projects: anonymous founders, unaudited single-signature treasuries, and unrealistic roadmap promises. The case also demonstrated that rug-pulled NFTs retain some residual trading activity on secondary markets — post-rug Evolved Apes sales continued on OpenSea — complicating the investor experience. The June 2024 federal charges against the alleged operators marked one of the first major U.S. criminal prosecutions specifically targeting an NFT rug pull, setting a potential legal precedent for the treatment of NFT fraud under existing wire fraud and money laundering statutes.","heading":"Broader Impact on the NFT Market","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"ArtNews: Three UK Individuals Charged by FBI for Evolved Apes NFT Fraud","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/evolved-apes-nft-scheme-fraud-fbi-1234709334/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Bitcoinist: NY Court Charges Suspects Linked To $3M Rug Pull","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinist.com/ny-court-charges-three-individuals-linked-to-3-million-nft-scam/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Halborn: Explained — The Evolved Apes Rug Pull","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-evolved-apes-rug-pull-september-2021"}]}],"sources_used":[{"name":"DOJ SDNY: Three UK Nationals Charged in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/three-united-kingdom-nationals-charged-connection-evolved-apes-nft-scam"},{"name":"VICE: Investors Spent Millions on Evolved Apes NFTs. Then They Got Scammed.","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed/"},{"name":"CoinTelegraph: Evolved Apes NFT creator allegedly absconds with $2.7 million","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/evolved-apes-nft-creator-allegedly-absconds-with-2-7-million"},{"name":"CoinDesk: U.S. Charges Three in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/06/06/us-charges-three-in-connection-with-evolved-apes-nft-scam"},{"name":"Decrypt: Feds Charge UK Nationals With $3 Million Evolved Apes Ethereum NFT Scam","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/234302/evolved-apes-nft-game-ethereum-crypto-rug-pull"},{"name":"DL News: US charges three UK nationals in connection with Evolved Apes NFT rug pull","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/us-charges-three-in-connection-with-nft-rugpull-scam/"},{"name":"Halborn: Explained — The Evolved Apes Rug Pull","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-evolved-apes-rug-pull-september-2021"},{"name":"Quadriga Initiative: Evolved Apes Rug Pull Case Study","type":"research","url":"https://www.quadrigainitiative.com/casestudy/evolvedapesrugpull.php"},{"name":"PR Newswire: Daz 3D and Fight Back Apes Announce NFT Collection","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/daz-3d-and-fight-back-apes-announce-stunning-nft-collection-bringing-renewed-value-to-the-community-301491357.html"},{"name":"ArtNews: Three UK Individuals Charged by FBI for Evolved Apes NFT Fraud","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/evolved-apes-nft-scheme-fraud-fbi-1234709334/"},{"name":"Bitcoinist: NY Court Charges Suspects Linked To $3M Rug Pull","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinist.com/ny-court-charges-three-individuals-linked-to-3-million-nft-scam/"},{"name":"The Gamer: NFT Developer Runs Off With $2.7 Million","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.thegamer.com/nft-developed-apes-scam/"}],"summary":"Evolved Apes was a collection of 10,000 Ethereum-based NFTs launched on September 24, 2021, that promised holders access to an unreleased blockchain fighting game. Approximately one week after the mint sold out, the anonymous developer known only as 'Evil Ape' disappeared with approximately 798 ETH (roughly $2.7 million at the time), taking down the project's website and Twitter account in what became one of the most prominent early NFT rug pulls. In June 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York charged three UK nationals — Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan — with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the scheme.","timeline":[{"date":"2021-09-24","event":"Evolved Apes public mint launches on OpenSea. All 10,000 NFTs sell out in approximately ten minutes, generating ~798 ETH in proceeds.","source":"VICE","source_url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed/"},{"date":"2021-10-01","event":"Anonymous developer 'Evil Ape' drains approximately 798 ETH (~$2.7M) from the project treasury in a series of transactions, then takes down the official website and Twitter account. The project's artist is left unpaid.","source":"VICE / Halborn","source_url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-evolved-apes-rug-pull-september-2021"},{"date":"2021-10-05","event":"Major media outlets including VICE, CoinTelegraph, and PC Gamer report on the rug pull, bringing widespread attention to the incident.","source":"CoinTelegraph","source_url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/evolved-apes-nft-creator-allegedly-absconds-with-2-7-million"},{"date":"2021-10-06","event":"Community member Mike_Cryptobull and others announce the Fight Back Apes initiative, promising to distribute free NFTs to original Evolved Apes holders using a multi-sig wallet structure.","source":"VICE","source_url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/investors-spent-millions-on-evolved-apes-nfts-then-they-got-scammed/"},{"date":"2022-02-01","event":"Daz 3D and Fight Back Apes announce a collaboration to develop a 3D avatar NFT collection, with original Evolved Apes holders eligible for free mints.","source":"PR Newswire","source_url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/daz-3d-and-fight-back-apes-announce-stunning-nft-collection-bringing-renewed-value-to-the-community-301491357.html"},{"date":"2024-06-06","event":"The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announces charges against three UK nationals — Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan — for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the Evolved Apes scheme. Maximum penalty: 20 years per count.","source":"DOJ SDNY","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/three-united-kingdom-nationals-charged-connection-evolved-apes-nft-scam"}]},"v":1}