Corporate Raids 2.0: How Founders Can Spot—and Stop—the New Web3 Attack

by
Christina Macedo

Revealed: July 08, 2025 at 6:00 am Up to date: July 08, 2025 at 6:00 am

by Ana

Edited and fact-checked:
July 08, 2025 at 6:00 am

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Picture credit score: PLAY Community

The Web3 house is not any stranger to assaults. Phishing scams, bridge exploits, governance manipulation — the menace floor is well-known. Complete industries now exist to guard towards them, from sensible contract audits to {hardware} wallets and custody insurance coverage.

However a quieter, extra harmful type of assault is gaining floor. And it doesn’t appear like an assault… till it’s too late.

That is Company Raids 2.0: a contemporary twist on the hostile ways as soon as utilized in Web2 boardrooms, now tailored for token economies. And on the heart of this can be a devastating weapon — the token freeze, and it could be the best kill-switch one can pull on a Web3 firm.

What was backdoor energy grabs (suppose pressuring executives, intimidating workers, hijacking shareholder votes, and so forth.) are actually being retooled for Web3. In the present day’s dangerous actors don’t must run a proxy battle. They simply want a courtroom and an initially sympathetic choose. It’s why founders should now perceive: the following “exploit” could also be authorized, not technical.

Authorized Freeze, Whole Collapse

Token freezes are getting used to not defend buyers, however to strategically dismantle initiatives. It’s the atomic bomb of Web3, wiping out treasury entry, destabilizing liquidity, halting partnerships, freezing payroll, and tanking group confidence — multi function movement.

In contrast to a wise contract bug, the fallout isn’t technical. It’s structural, reputational, and in some instances, unrecoverable.

And worse: even when a freeze is discharged, restoration is painfully sluggish. The harm is already performed — authorized prices balloon, investor sentiment sours, roadmaps stall.

The case of PLAY Community, a Web3 gaming infrastructure startup, highlights this sample with stark readability. In 2024, a bunch of former consultants  sought to freeze about half a billion $PLAY tokens by an emergency injunction. The freeze order paralyzed operations and delayed a number of sport launches. Behind the scenes, the strain intensified: demand letters had been despatched to workers, makes an attempt had been made to intimidate management, and the PLAY group was pressured to battle not simply in courtroom, however for the belief of their companions and developer ecosystem. 

After 6 months of litigation throughout a number of jurisdictions, the courts absolutely discharged the freeze, dominated the actions oppressive, and awarded indemnity prices. But the case left a wake of injury that continues immediately that even the courts acknowledged was designed to destroy. It’s a textbook instance of how authorized instruments will be misused as a weapon — to not defend worth, however to destroy it.

Because the choose put it within the ruling, the freeze wasn’t simply legally unsound. It was “meant to kill the golden goose.”

The Assault Sample: What Founders Have to Know

This type of authorized sabotage typically begins quietly, with a guide or advisor who believes they’re owed greater than agreed — and begins demanding tokens; when a strategic investor desires acceleration, management, or returns that don’t match what the cap desk really entitles them to; and with a shareholder who recordsdata an ex parte injunction in courtroom, claiming tokens is perhaps “dissipated” or “misused”.

These are acquainted ways from Web2 — strain campaigns dressed up as governance concern. However in Web3, they’re extra harmful. Token-based initiatives depend on momentum, ecosystem belief, and liquidity. A freeze shuts down all the financial engine.

As soon as granted, even briefly, these freezes are weaponized. Exchanges are alerted, workers threatened, and generally households harassed. The goal right here isn’t decision, however attrition.

This isn’t investor oversight. It’s authorized extortion dressed up as fiduciary responsibility. And Web3 founders, particularly these working with early-stage governance setups, are weak except they put together.

How Founders Can Pre-Arm

A token freeze is not only a authorized matter. It’s an operational, monetary, reputational, and psychological menace — one that may hit even the best-run groups. However like sensible contract vulnerabilities, authorized assault surfaces will be hardened.

Right here’s what each founder can implement earlier than a “company raid” ever hits:

Reply, Not React

In high-pressure conditions, our intuition is to react instantly. However reactive is what dangerous actors depend on: panic, rushed selections, errors or missteps that can be utilized towards you. Step again and get readability. Name your lawyer, not Twitter. Defending your challenge means pondering clearly and performing strategically. Use calm as your weapon.

Acknowledge Threats for What They Are

Authorized-sounding threats are nonetheless threats. Telling a founder ‘Give us the tokens or we’ll destroy you’ is extortion, plain and easy. Founders have to be ready to acknowledge it as such. Doc every thing. Herald authorized counsel instantly. If somebody follows by on their threats, that turns into proof of prison conduct. Their tactic is worry. Your counter is publicity. 

Tighten Contracts and Different Authorized FrameworksLeverage sensible contracts and decentralized authorized agreements to obviously outline roles, obligations, and protections. Any ambiguity is a possible entry level for dangerous actors. Spend money on a powerful authorized group, and collectively routinely overview all contracts to shut loopholes and make clear phrases – there’s no “context” to a contract, solely what’s written. 

Distribute Token and Management AuthorityCentralized management makes your challenge a straightforward goal. Design your tokenomics to make sure broad distribution among the many group and retail buyers. Allocate tokens by group mining, airdrops, or vesting schedules that favor decentralization and restrict anybody get together’s leverage. Tasks with 10%+ token-holders are virtually inviting a hostile takeover. 

Select the Proper Jurisdiction – Earlier than You Want ItFounders typically defer jurisdiction questions till a battle arises. That’s too late. Incorporate in jurisdictions with sturdy blockchain/digital asset frameworks – like Gibraltar or Switzerland – can deter hostile claims and guarantee clear procedures when disputes happen, including a layer of authorized resilience.

Lock Down Your IP and InfrastructureFounders ought to deal with deployment keys, admin entry, and significant infrastructure as a part of their core safety posture. Multi-signature wallets as utilized by main DeFi protocols like Uniswap, {hardware} modules, and entry segmentation must be normal. Dangerous actors don’t simply goal the corporate – they could go after the tech stack itself. 

Develop Contingency Plans NowYou don’t look ahead to a hearth to determine the place the exits are. Founders ought to run a simulation of a authorized assault: who leads the response, who handles exchanges and companions, how communications are issued, and the way the group stays coordinated. These are normal playbooks for main initiatives which have shortly addressed safety breaches or malicious assaults.

Monitor the Narrative, and Personal ItA raid typically begins on-line and never in courtroom. DMs begin circulating. Nameless accounts trace at scandal. It’s meant to shake group belief earlier than the info are recognized – and power you into submission. You don’t must over-defend, however you do want to reply. Belief me, this occurred to us at PLAY. Keep vigilant; their ways are relentless.

Your Thoughts Is Your First Line of DefenseIn the fast-paced world of Web3, it’s straightforward to get caught up within the noise – feeling like all the ecosystem is watching your each transfer or that your challenge’s authorized battles are all-consuming. However typically, most of this noise isn’t as loud because it appears. Solely these straight concerned really know the struggles you’re dealing with. Assaults like this are engineered to put on you down. Disconnect when wanted. Go outdoors. Discuss to individuals who floor you. When your thoughts is evident, selections are higher, sooner, and more durable to control.

Why This Issues — Particularly for Feminine Founders

Circumstances like this additionally floor a deeper, uncomfortable actuality. Some buyers count on to regulate founders. And when these founders occur to be ladies, pushback typically escalates.

One litigator described himself as a shotgun, paid to threaten a startup founder’s group and derail the roadmap.

This sample isn’t distinctive, however it’s acquainted: founders, particularly feminine founders, are sometimes underestimated. The assaults are calculated to hit the place it hits most. They aim your livelihood, your stability, your status. They’ll recommend you received’t work once more. They’ll attempt to shake your confidence earlier than the actual battle even begins. The idea is you’ll again down quietly, that you just received’t have the sources or resolve to push again – particularly as soon as issues get public.

That is unacceptable. However the ways will repeat, till the trade calls it what it’s — an influence seize disguised as a governance dispute.

What’s at stake isn’t simply fairness. It’s who will get to maintain constructing, and who will get pressured out. And it’s about making certain that authorized techniques don’t turn out to be instruments to silence, intimidate, or erase the very builders Web3 claims to empower.

Founders of all backgrounds deserve techniques that defend them from dangerous actors who exploit authorized loopholes. As a result of when these protections are weak, it’s not simply founders that suffer. It’s innovation itself.

Closing Phrase

Token freezes usually are not safeguards. In the present day, they’ve turn out to be the brand new Web3 assault, engineered to disable total initiatives in a single transfer. They’re utilized by actors who know precisely how devastating they are often. And like every exploit, they flourish when the system fails to shut the hole.

Each founder deserves to spend their time constructing — not spend a yr or extra preventing to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. 

That begins with sturdy authorized protections, a vigilant group, and strategic safeguards designed to stop hostile takeovers earlier than they occur. 

Proactive techniques matter. However so does psychological stamina. Company raids 2.0 are engineered to put on you down — to make you’re feeling alone, overwhelmed, and outmatched. Defending your psychological well being is as important as defending your multisig. Take breaks. Construct help. Keep grounded. A transparent thoughts makes higher selections — and dangerous actors understand it.

Preparation received’t remove dangerous actors. But it surely raises the price of assault. And in Web3, that is perhaps the very best deterrent of all.

The objective isn’t simply to outlive the following freeze. It’s to ensure the following attacker thinks twice.

About The Writer

Christina Macedo, the CEO and Founding father of PLAY, has a powerful background in tech management, regulation, and expertise. Her skilled experience consists of integrating blockchain into gaming to broaden entry to sport improvement and improve participant engagement. Christina regularly writes about Web3 applied sciences, emphasizing their potential to form the way forward for gaming. She can also be actively concerned in discussions about decentralizing gaming ecosystems and the worldwide affect of Web3 on cell gaming dynamics, sharing her insights by varied talking engagements at worldwide conferences.

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