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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"ed476fa4-a1d0-4e7c-b5e4-86aae5387691","kind":"publish","page_slug":"kokomo-finance","published_at":"2026-05-28T03:34:40.873Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Kokomo Finance","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/03/27/crypto-lender-kokomos-developers-use-wrapped-bitcoin-for-4m-exit-scam","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/kokomo-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/optimism-defi-protocol-kokomo-finance-rug-pulls-users-for-4-million/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/kokomo-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/optimism-defi-protocol-kokomo-finance-rug-pulls-users-for-4-million/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://medium.com/coinmonks/decoding-kokomo-finance-4-million-rug-pull-quillaudits-d5d027522bf3","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/kokomo-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/4m-exit-scam-suspected-as-kokomo-finance-flies-off-radar-token-plunges","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/03/27/crypto-lender-kokomos-developers-use-wrapped-bitcoin-for-4m-exit-scam","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.cryptometer.io/news/zachxbt-exposes-scam-ring-behind-multiple-defi-rug-pulls/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/warning-malicious-group-threatening-layer-2-networks-exposed/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/scam-crypto-projects-liquidity-disappear","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-sleuth-warns-scammers-defi-protocol","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/kokomo-finance","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cryptopotato.com/optimism-defi-protocol-kokomo-finance-rug-pulls-users-for-4-million/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/03/27/crypto-lender-kokomos-developers-use-wrapped-bitcoin-for-4m-exit-scam","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://coingeek.com/kokomo-finance-developers-pull-off-4m-exit-scam-days-after-launch-report/","type":"other","url":""}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"Kokomo Finance was a purported non-custodial lending and borrowing protocol launched on the Optimism blockchain on March 25, 2023. Within approximately 24 hours of launch, its developers executed a deliberate exit scam, stealing approximately $4 to $4.5 million in user funds through smart contract manipulation. The project was subsequently linked by on-chain investigator ZachXBT to a serial scam ring responsible for over $20 million in losses across multiple DeFi protocols.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-03-25","event":"Kokomo Finance launches on Optimism, offering non-custodial lending and borrowing of WBTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, DAI, and native KOKO token.","source":""},{"date":"2023-03-26","event":"Developers execute exit scam: deployer address 0x41be deploys malicious cBTC contract, manipulates reward functions, drains approximately $4–4.5 million in user funds across Optimism, Arbitrum, and BSC. KOKO token crashes ~97%. Website and all social media accounts deleted.","source":""},{"date":"2023-03-26","event":"CertiK publicly flags the incident via its alert system, identifying the attack as an exit scam and the largest rug pull observed on Optimism at that time.","source":""},{"date":"2023-03-31","event":"CertiK publishes full post-mortem analysis, documenting technical attack flow, wallet addresses, and fund distribution across chains.","source":""},{"date":"2023-11-01","event":"ZachXBT issues warning about Lendora Protocol on Scroll network, connecting it to the same scam group behind Kokomo Finance, Magnate, and Solfire.","source":""},{"date":"2024-04-14","event":"ZachXBT publicly exposes Leaper Finance on Blast as the scam ring's latest operation, seeded with ~$1 million laundered from prior scams. Total ring losses identified exceed $20 million. Scammers taunt ZachXBT on X before deactivating accounts.","source":""}]},"v":1}