OxEncrypt, the native token of the Encryption A.I. project, which was worth $2.066 on July 1, fell to the price of $0.0315 within five hours. Today, the price declined even more, reaching the level of $0.022, while less than two months ago it was trading for nearly $15. Meanwhile, the token’s market capitalization has dropped from 2 million to just 20,000.
According to a screenshot of a message from the Encryption. A.I. developer that appeared on Twitter on July 3, the cause of the drastic price drop was a rug pull. In the message, the developer stressed that the project had never been intended to be a scam. However, the author of the text "had fallen into a severe addiction to online gambling and casinos during the migration from v1 to v2."
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The developer did not specify what exactly had happened to OxEncrypt, but they did mention their unsuccessful struggle against gambling addiction and the loss of $300,000. This information, along with the "sincere apologies and deep regrets for the actions and the negative impact they have left on investors," has led many in the crypto community to believe that the project was rug pulled to cover the developer's gambling debts.
Many crypto investors believed that the OxEncrypt token had some potential, as its project seemed quite promising. According to the official description of the Encryption A.I. published on CoinMarketCap, the project "provides a secure and efficient way to launch new tokens. Its Telegram bot and LARP checker bot are powerful tools that help users navigate the risks associated with token launches."
The team behind Encryption A.I. claims that its bot, designed to automatically buy and burn tokens, has already been created. The bot’s developers also promised that it "is committed to providing the best possible service to its users and is continually developing new features to improve its utility."
However, some members of the crypto community believe that the project had red flags from the beginning. For example, one of the traders, Crypto Maverick, cites such warning signs as the functions with retrievable ownership that allow the project owner "to regain ownership even after relinquishing it" as well as "the authority the contract owner has to modify the balance of tokens at other addresses, which may result in a loss of assets."
Others claim that they have seen the same text as the one reportedly sent by the Encryption A.I. developer before in fraudulent NFT projects. These Twitter users warn the community not to take the developer's message seriously.
"It is deeply disturbing that they rugged the project. Shilled by many. I did not have huge hope for it but invested quite a bit. Lost all. As long as this greedy mfs in this industry, it makes us lose trust and the industry never grow," many crypto investors shared their experience of losing money to rug pull with other victims.
In the meantime, after numerous accusations of scamming people with a rug pull, PSYOP issuer Ben.eth announced changes to his project yesterday that may be planned to improve the project’s reputation.
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"PSYOP will become a 100% community project. I will be taking no cut of anything from it. All fees gathered will be going directly to the PSYOP buybacks," Ben.eth promised.
He also stressed that his team is helping all investors who had lost their money to phishing scams based on fake PSYOP websites. According to the token’s creator, the scammed investors "are lucky" because, despite their mistakes, the PSYOP team is working on hack reimbursements.
Many PSYOP investors, disappointed by the recent drop in the token's price, suspected that Ben.eth had exploited the project, while his racist posts on Twitter led many to believe that the infamous coin issuer was intentionally trying to get himself banned on the social network, as it would allegedly make it difficult to find him.
