GoPlus: In the past three quarters, 5 L2s have found more than 560,000 potentially risky tokens, affecting more than 13.6 million addresses

Original title: "GoPlus: In the past three quarters, more than 560,000 potential risk tokens were found on 5 major L2 chains, affecting more than 13.6 million user addresses"

Original source: GoPlus

Introduction

With the rapid development of Web3.0, more and more users are entering this field and investing. Among them, in the field of on-chain investment, meme coin has become the most popular and attractive investment target for users. Meme coin has the characteristics of fast issuance, high fluctuation range, and anonymity of issuers. However, a large number of fraud gangs took advantage of users' enthusiasm for meme coins, and carried out a large number of fraud activities targeting users on the chain under the guise of meme coins. These criminals took advantage of the characteristics of smart contracts to design various risky tokens, and then tricked users into investing and made illegal profits by triggering code backdoors. These risky tokens usually have the following characteristics: the contract creator has unlimited rights to issue additional tokens, users can only buy but not sell, malicious blacklist and whitelist settings, and transaction taxes can be maliciously tampered with. Once users buy these tokens, they are likely to suffer irreversible losses. In order to cope with the increasingly serious risk of fraud, it is particularly important to identify and warn of risky tokens. Based on the GoPlus Security API and real on-chain data, this article will analyze the risky tokens on five popular Ethereum Layer 2 networks (Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Blast, and Mantle) in the past three quarters, in order to provide reference and warnings for users.

Method Description

Data Source

· GoPlus Security API

GoPlus Security API is an open, permission-free Web3.0 security data API service provided by the GoPlus team for Web3.0 developers and end users. This service provides professional developers in the technology field with the ability to protect their users and meet the security needs of C-end users.

Transaction data on each chain is mainly counted and queried through DUNE.

Analysis Method

Based on the GoPlus Security API, we scanned a total of 564,180 potentially risky tokens on 5 Top L2 Chains (users call through products that integrate the GoPlus Security API).

Based on DUNE, we conducted data analysis and visualization on the above suspected risky tokens, and formed an open source dashboard showing three data indicators:

1. the number of unique traders involved in suspected risky tokens
2. the transaction amount involved in suspected risky tokens
3. all suspected risky tokens contract addresses

The sample period of the data in this article is within the past three quarters. Specifically, it is from August 1, 2023 to May 24, 2024. Since the Blast chain was launched in March 2024, its sample period starts from March 2024, but some ERC20 tokens on its chain were issued in February 2024.

Definition of Risky Tokens

The definition of risky tokens in this article is mainly derived from the Token Risk Classification (TRC). The detailed definition of each of the following conditions can be found in TRC. Specifically, this article regards smart contracts that meet any of the following conditions as potential risky tokens.

· Honeypot (TRC-001): The token has a "honeypot" mechanism, which users can buy but not sell
· OwnershipRetrieval (TRC-003): Token ownership may be retrieved maliciously
· AntiWhale (TRC-014): Token contracts can restrict transactions of large holders, and specific users may not be able to cash out freely.
· TransferPausable (TRC-011): Token transfers can be paused, and user funds may be maliciously frozen
· SlippageModification (TRC-010): The token contract can modify slippage arbitrarily, and users may suffer unpredictable losses
· BlacklistFunction (TRC-008): The token contract can set a blacklist, and specific users may not be able to transfer and trade freely
· WhitelistFunction (TRC-013): The token contract can set a whitelist, and specific users may not be able to transfer and trade freely
· TradingCooldown (TRC-016): The token contract can set a transaction cooling period, and users may not be able to trade in time
· SelfDestruction (TRC-006): The token contract can self-destruct, and the tokens held by the user may suddenly disappear.
· ExternalCall (TRC-007): Token contracts can call external contracts, which poses a risk of malicious exploitation
· PersonalSlippageModification (TRC-012): The slippage of a specific user can be modified, and the target user may suffer targeted losses
· AntiWhaleModification (TRC-015): The trading restrictions of large holders can be modified, which may further harm the interests of specific users
· BalanceManipulation (TRC-004): Token balances can be modified arbitrarily, and the number of tokens held by users may change suddenly
· HiddenOwnership (TRC-005): The identity of the token owner is hidden, making it difficult to track the responsible party
· FullSaleRestriction (TRC-009): The token contract can completely restrict sales, and the holder may not be able to cash out in time.
· FullBuyRestriction: The token contract can completely restrict purchases, and the holder may not be able to cash out in time.
· NotOpenSource: The token contract code is not open source

Base

Number of new tokens on the Base chain and number of new suspected risky tokens

In the past three quarters, a total of 573,484 ERC20 tokens were added to the Base chain, of which 381,790 new suspected risky ERC20 tokens were scanned, accounting for about 66.6%! That is, in the past three quarters, more than half of the newly issued ERC20 tokens on the Base chain are suspected risky tokens.

The trend of the number of new ERC20 tokens on the Base chain is to decrease first and then increase significantly, especially since March 2024, the number of new ERC20 tokens on the Base chain has increased significantly. In April 2024, the number of new ERC20 tokens on the Base chain was the largest, reaching 240,000.

The number of new suspected risky ERC20 tokens on the Base chain is highly positively correlated with the number of new ERC20 tokens, and the two trends are similar.

Number of user addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Base chain

Before March 2024, the number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Base chain was relatively stable, ranging from about 230,000 to 300,000. But overall, the number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Base chain has generally shown an upward trend, slowly increasing from 287,000 in August 2023 to 372,000 in February 2024. Thereafter, there was a steep peak, reaching 1.135 million and 1.994 million in March and April 2024, respectively. Although it has dropped to 1.301 million in May 2024, it is still much higher than the same period in 2023, and May 2024 has not yet ended. It can be seen that as time goes by, the risk of fraud faced by users on the Base chain continues to increase.

Arbitrum

The number of new tokens on the Arbitrum chain and the number of new suspected risky tokens

In the past three quarters, a total of 95,203 ERC20 tokens have been added to the Arbitrum chain, of which 85,633 new suspected risky ERC20 tokens have been scanned, accounting for about 89.9%!

The number of newly added ERC20 tokens on the Arbitrum chain is relatively stable with a slight upward trend. From 8,520 new tokens in August 2023 to 12,349 new tokens in April 2024.

Similar to the Base chain, the number of new suspected risky tokens on the Arbitrum chain is highly positively correlated with the number of new ERC20 tokens, and the trend is consistent.

Number of user addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Arbitrum chain

The number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Arbitrum chain showed a clear upward trend, especially from March to May 2024, when the number increased significantly. The number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Arbitrum chain has increased by about 105 times from 36,000 in August 2023 to 3.78 million in May 2024!

Suspected risky tokens on the Arbitrum chain affected 3.78 million users in May 2024, seriously threatening the security of users' assets.

Optimism

The number of new tokens on the Optimism chain and the number of new suspected risky tokens

In the past three quarters, a total of 73,737 ERC20 tokens have been added to the Optimism chain, of which 70,089 new suspected risky ERC20 tokens have been scanned, accounting for about 95%! That is, in the past three quarters, about 95% of the newly added ERC20 tokens on the Optimism chain are suspected risky tokens!

The number of newly added ERC20 tokens on the Optimism chain is also highly positively correlated with the number of newly added suspected risky ERC20 tokens.

The trend of the number of newly added ERC20 tokens is first increased and then decreased. During the cryptocurrency bull market from March to May 2024, the number of newly added ERC20 tokens on the chain mentioned in the previous article increased significantly, while the number of newly added ERC20 tokens on the Optimism chain was relatively small,

The average monthly increase was about 4,500 ERC20 tokens.

The number of user addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Optimism chain

The number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Optimism chain is significantly lower than the above two chains. Before March 2024, the number fluctuated relatively little. From March to May 2024, the number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Optimism chain increased significantly.

Due to the relatively small number of new suspected risky ERC20 tokens on the Optimism chain from March to May 2024, the number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens increased significantly during this period. This phenomenon may be caused by the fact that the suspected risky tokens in the past affected a large number of users during the cryptocurrency bull market, or it may be because the small number of suspected risky tokens added during this period affected a large number of users.

Blast

Number of new tokens on the Blast chain and number of new suspected risky tokens

The Blast chain was launched on the mainnet in March 2024, but transactions were already carried out on its chain in February 2024, so there are only data from February to May 2024.

In the past three quarters, a total of 13,859 ERC20 tokens were added to the Blast chain, of which 12,608 new suspected risky ERC20 tokens were scanned, accounting for about 91%.

The number of new ERC20 tokens on the Blast chain is on a downward trend. After the Blast chain was launched on the mainnet in March 2024, a large number of ERC20 tokens were added rapidly, and then the number of new tokens gradually decreased. About 91% of the new ERC20 tokens are suspected risky tokens.

Number of user addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Blast chain

After the launch of the Blast chain mainnet in March this year, the number of users increased rapidly and transactions on the chain were active. Data shows that in March 2024, the number of addresses involved in suspected fraudulent contracts on the Blast chain reached 642,000, close to the 663,000 on the Optimism chain, indicating that transactions on suspected risky tokens on the Blast chain are very active. Before the end of May, the number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens has reached 218,000, which may set a new historical high. As an emerging L2 chain, Blast Chain has already shown signs of fraud, which deserves high vigilance.

Mantle

Number of new tokens and new suspected risky tokens on the Mantle chain

In the past three quarters, a total of 5,645 ERC20 tokens were added to the Mantle chain, of which 3,801 new suspected risky ERC20 tokens were scanned, accounting for about 67.3%.

The proportion of new ERC20 tokens and new suspected risky ERC20 tokens on the Mantle chain showed a downward trend.

The number of new suspected risky tokens on the Mantle chain is the least among the five chains.

Number of user addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Mantle chain

The number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens on the Mantle chain is generally small, even lower than the newly launched Blast chain. However, the data shows that the indicator is generally on an upward trend, gradually rising from 1519 to about 54,000, an increase of more than 35 times, so the scam problem on the Mantle chain is also worthy of high vigilance.

Summary

In general, the rapid growth in the number of addresses involved in suspected risky tokens in various Layer-2 Ethereum networks has made the investment environment faced by users increasingly harsh. The data clearly shows that as the popularity of these networks increases, the risk of encountering scams is also increasing, especially scams related to Meme tokens. This trend is evident in all analyzed networks. As the entire field continues to develop, we all need to remain vigilant and actively guard against these threats. As an open, permissionless and user-driven Web3 modular user security layer, GoPlus Network provides users with protection throughout the entire life cycle of transactions. It uses a decentralized user security network and advanced AI-driven security solutions to provide in-depth risk analysis and provide users with intelligent and efficient security services. If users encounter any security issues, we will do our best to help solve them.

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