Uniswap Founder Hayden Adams Exposes Elaborate Impersonation Scam in China

By Tsunami 06/3/23 4:04 AM

Uniswap has fallen victim to an intricate impersonation scheme in China, prompting its founder, Hayden Adams, to issue a warning to the community. On June 2nd, the cryptocurrency community on Twitter shared a video from a purported Uniswap conference held in May.

Some next level effort went into this scam

They built a fork of our website (domain takedown pending) that adds chinese community content and links to the real uniswap app

And did an hour long zoom recording with real fake uniswap execshttps://t.co/JSgDrWjPgI pic.twitter.com/1LnOZOKWFp

— hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams) June 3, 2023

The conference, self-promoted as the “first Uniswap summit in Asia,” even claimed to have the CEO of Uniswap as a guest speaker. The sophistication of the impersonation scheme was evident not only in the grand scale and production value of the conference video but also in the creation of an entire website catering to the Chinese Uniswap community. The website featured content in Chinese and directed visitors to the DEX platform.

Furthermore, the conference organized an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session via video with the supposed CEO of Uniswap, a person introducing themselves as “Mike Hanlon” and claiming to be the “Global Director of the Uniswap Community.” Other high-ranking personnel, such as the CTO, COO, and CFO, also participated in engaging with the community.

UNISWAP CTO FELIX D. CONFIRMS LONG AWAITED PROTOCOL FINALLY LAUNCHING LATER THIS YEAR pic.twitter.com/I40FF3fgTp

— Cocoahomology (@cocoahomology) June 2, 2023

The true founder of Uniswap, Hayden Adams, took to Twitter to disavow any association with the conference and issued a cautionary message to the community regarding these deceptive impersonation attempts.

The motives behind how this Uniswap impersonation conference managed to be organized within Chinese territory, a country that banned cryptocurrencies in 2021, remain unclear. Nevertheless, it highlights the audacity with which fraudulent actors can operate to lure unsuspecting investors.

Some speculate that the conference may have actually taken place in Hong Kong, with attendees invited from China. Others suggest that this is not a new tactic, as it resembles strategies previously employed by Chinese “whales” to sell tokens to new investors.

Despite these concerns, the cryptocurrency investment frenzy is resurging in the Asian region, as the Hong Kong government has started granting operational licenses to crypto companies since June 1st. It allows professional investors to trade cryptocurrencies, albeit with stringent restrictions still in place. Given Hong Kong’s relationship with China, many believe this move could be a precursor to China eventually reopening its doors to cryptocurrencies.

Impersonation scams, particularly those targeting high-profile individuals, continue to plague the crypto industry. The most common tactic involves hacking into the social media accounts of prominent projects and posting fraudulent messages. Recently, the CTO of the chatbot development company ChatGPT fell victim to a Twitter hack, where the compromised account was used to promote a token scam.

As the crypto community remains vigilant, it is crucial for investors and participants to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of any conferences, announcements, or investment opportunities. Taking proactive steps to ensure the legitimacy of projects can safeguard against falling victim to scams and protect the overall integrity of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.