Lena Network Denies Rug Pull, Abandoning Token Contract Ownership Does Not Mean Project Termination

In response to the rumors of a Rug Pull yesterday, liquidity protocol Lena Network issued a statement clarifying: “There are multiple reasons why we sent the fundraising funds to OKX, including converting the IFO's ETH into USDT. This was a necessary step as the operation and automated market maker (AMM) pools of LENA operate based on USDT. We chose this method instead of on-chain transfers to avoid high gas fees and trading slippage, ensuring efficient utilization of funds and effective financial management. These funds are primarily used for the project's future development, including development costs, marketing, token listing fees, and liquidity.” In response to community feedback, we are taking further steps to transfer the funds back to cold wallets to protect their security. Additionally, we want to clarify that after the end of the private sale round, we transferred 100 ETH to OKX, not expecting such a strong community reaction.

Addressing the controversy surrounding relinquishing ownership of the token contract, Lena stated: “Based on community feedback, we originally planned to relinquish ownership of the token contract to prevent any new minting and to assure the community of our commitment to decentralization and security. However, we were reminded that ownership of the contract was not fully relinquished, which was done to further reassure our community. The information has been inaccurately circulated, and we want to clarify that relinquishing ownership of our token contract does not mean our project has ended.”

Lena also pointed out that its roadmap is proceeding as planned, with significant milestones including launching a permissionless NFT auction platform, providing customizable and minute-level auction capabilities for NFTs. Lena is also advancing the development of a lending protocol, which is visible on the testnet.

Lena acknowledges that its execution mistakes have caused distress to the community and is committed to implementing a compensation plan for IFO participants. Detailed information on the compensation method and distribution will be announced in the future.

According to a previous report by Cointelegraph, the Lena Network Deployer address transferred 753.11 ETH (worth approximately $2.9 million) to an address associated with the OKX platform at 10:00 AM yesterday. According to Lena Network's protocol announcement, the Candy token issuance raised over 850 ETH (worth $3.2 million).