Investigators have linked a determine within the $30 million ZKasino alleged rip-off to a recent cryptocurrency venture branded WhiteRock (WHITE), on-chain analyst ZachXBT reported in a June 16 publish on X.
WhiteRock surfaced in December 2024 with an nameless group, overstated consumer counts, and unverifiable claims a few USDX reserve, researchers at Blokiments wrote in a memo dated June 13.
Proof
ZachXBT added recent proof by discovering an influencer that acquired fee from a WhiteRock-tied pockets, which additionally aggregates deposits traceable to ZKasino’s treasury.
Separate transfers in February and March present similar quantities exiting a ZKasino pockets to an prompt trade and getting into WhiteRock addresses moments later by way of Monero bridges.
A possible private hyperlink tightens the overlap. An tackle that deployed WhiteRock’s contracts exchanged messages with [email protected], an electronic mail tied to a Chess.com account utilizing the deal with “IldarTheGrandMaster.”
Ildar Ilham, also referred to as “Prometheus” within the ZKasino episode, has used the alias “Goedel” throughout a number of developer channels.
ZachXBT said that the match “confirms a minimum of one ZKasino founder directs WhiteRock exercise.” He urged centralized venues MEXC and Gate.io to delist WHITE or carry out deeper vetting.
He argued that prior conduct in ZKasino and different tasks tied to their group, corresponding to Syncus and Zigzag, exhibits a sample of elevating capital, biking funds by way of privateness rails, and abandoning said roadmaps.
Courtroom dates for Ilham and two different ZKasino co-founders, Elham Nourzai and Lior Ben Zakan, haven’t but appeared on Dutch public dockets. WhiteRock’s web site lists no company entity, and venture directors didn’t reply electronic mail queries despatched by ZachXBT on Sunday.
ZKasino loss and laundering paths
ZKasino raised greater than $30 million value of Ethereum (ETH) throughout a 2024 presale, then diverted consumer belongings as a substitute of constructing the marketed playing platform.
The Dutch monetary crime company FIOD arrested the co-founder, recognized on-line as “Derivatives Monke,” in April 2024 and seized associated infrastructure.
Two associates, Ilham and Lior Ben Zakan, operated from the Center East at the moment, in accordance with courtroom filings cited by ZachXBT.
Transactions tracked after Nourzai’s late 2024 launch present the stolen ETH transferring by way of zkSync, Starknet, Solana, and a number of EVM-compatible chains.
Pockets house owners routed funds to over-the-counter brokers, swapped tokens for Monero through prompt exchanges, and punted perpetual futures on Hyperliquid. These steps broke asset provenance whereas funneling capital towards new ventures.
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