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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"9a506b5d-9c23-4795-b05b-ec3952a746b6","kind":"publish","page_slug":"bald","published_at":"2026-05-19T21:18:09.252Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Bald","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-bald-token-rug-pull-july-2023"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/the-coinbase-l2-network-base-saw-meme-coin-frenzy-on-sunday/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/bald-memecoin-base-coinbase-brian-armstrong"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=bald-rug-pull"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/08/14/bald-developer-sends-12m-back-to-ethereum-after-spectacular-mess-up"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://coinjournal.net/news/bald-network-developer-sends-7000-eth-to-ethereum-deposits-some-on-kraken/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://nftnow.com/news/bald-memecoin-already-dubbed-rug-pull-after-25m-loss-in-liquidity/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/08/01/bald-token-rugpull-may-have-links-to-sam-bankman-frieds-alameda-data-shows"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptopotato.com/the-bald-truth-or-conspiracy-memecoins-suspected-links-to-alameda-and-sam-bankman-fried/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/a96d8-29-meme-coins-bald-rugged-base-investors-lose-millions"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://basescan.org/token/0x27d2decb4bfc9c76f0309b8e88dec3a601fe25a8"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/08/01/bald-token-rugpull-may-have-links-to-sam-bankman-frieds-alameda-data-shows"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/crypto-sleuths-discover-potential-connections-between-sam-bankman-fried-and-bald-rugpull/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://coinpedia.org/news/bald-memecoin-plummets-over-87-amidst-liquidity-is-sbf-behind-the-bald-token-rugpull/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://insidebitcoins.com/news/could-bald-tokens-rug-pull-be-linked-to-sam-bankman-frieds-alameda-research"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.newsbtc.com/news/29-meme-coins-bald-rugged-base-investors-lose-millions/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.newsbtc.com/news/on-chain-experiment-or-rug-pull-base-faces-backlash-after-unofficial-memecoin-crashes-90/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://blockworks.com/news/inside-coinbase-base-launch"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/bald-price-rallies-as-developer-burns-60-of-supply-following-rug-pull-on-blockchain-202403261421"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-bald-token-rug-pull-july-2023"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/08/01/bald-memecoin-rugged-developers-wallet-links-to-ftx-sbf/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://decrypt.co/150693/following-meme-coin-mania-on-coinbases-base-one-token-appears-to-be-a-rug"}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"BALD was a memecoin launched on Coinbase's Base Layer 2 network on July 29, 2023, allegedly named as a reference to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's appearance. After attracting over $66 million in ETH to its liquidity pool through aggressive liquidity additions and a price surge of approximately 4,000,000% within 24 hours, the anonymous deployer removed approximately $25.6 million in liquidity on July 31, 2023, causing the token price to collapse by roughly 90%. On-chain investigators linked the deployer's wallet to addresses with documented interactions with Alameda Research, with Wintermute's head of research publicly identifying former Alameda co-CEO Sam Trabucco as the most likely suspect — though no conclusive proof of identity was ever established.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-07-29","event":"BALD token deployed on Base network by anonymous developer operating as 'BaldBaseBald' on Twitter. No UI, no team disclosure, no audit.","source":""},{"date":"2023-07-30","event":"Token surges approximately 4,000,000% within 24 hours. Deployer injects over 6,700 ETH (~$12.5M) into Leetswap liquidity pool. ETH bridged to Base surges from $2M (all of July) to $58M in a single day.","source":""},{"date":"2023-07-31","event":"Deployer removes approximately 1,034 ETH from liquidity pool; token price collapses 85-90%. Total liquidity extracted reported at ~$25.6M; investor losses estimated at ~$23M. Developer publicly denies selling tokens.","source":""},{"date":"2023-08-01","event":"On-chain investigators, led by Wintermute's Igor Igamberdiev, publish analysis linking the BALD deployer wallet to addresses associated with Alameda Research via shared FTX deposit account. Trabucco named as primary suspect, with no hard proof.","source":""},{"date":"2023-08-01","event":"Scopescan identifies a separate serial rug puller who deployed 29 additional scam memecoins on Base in the wake of BALD, extracting over $1M.","source":""},{"date":"2023-08-14","event":"BALD deployer bridges 7,000 ETH (~$12.9M) from Base back to Ethereum, then deposits 2,100 ETH (~$3.87M) to Kraken exchange, per Lookonchain analytics.","source":""},{"date":"2024-03-26","event":"BALD token briefly rallies after developer reportedly burns 60% of remaining supply. Original investor losses from the rug pull were not restored.","source":""}]},"v":1}