Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, came to X (previously Twitter) to announce a significant development regarding the departure of 1 employee from the decentralized exchange team. The action follows what some have referred to as a “rug pull.”
Memecoin Deployment and “Rug Pull” Incident
The incident focuses on FrensTech, a memecoin linked to Base’s friend.tech social site. FrensTech was deployed and effectively “rugged” by developer AzFlin, causing Adams to address the problem publicly. “Wanted to let people know this person is no longer with the company,” he explained, adding that such behavior is “not something we support or condone.”
According to LinkedIn, AzFlin, also known as Allen Lin, was the developer behind the incident. Lin had been a member of the Uniswap team since July 2022 as a competent smart contract engineer. Prior to this post, he worked as a lead engineer at the NFT marketplace Genie.
Movement of Ether Across Chains
AzFlin performed a cross-chain operation through the protocol Hop shortly after launching the FrensTech memecoin on Base, transferring 14 ether (equal to $25,900) away from Base. AzFlin not only deducted liquidity-related fees, but also sold the tokens pulled from liquidity, according to UniswapVillain on X.
Unexpected Action Sparks Astonishment
The Uniswap community was taken aback by the activities of a person who was publicly named and linked with Uniswap. UniswapVillain expressed surprise that a known Uniswap team member would participate in such behavior.
AzFlin added “(unemployment arc)” to their X username in reaction to the incident. They joked that while they were dismissed from UniSwap, they earned followers and a reputation as a “Crypto Twitter villain,” resulting in a net neutral consequence. Inquiries seeking comments on the incident and its fallout have not received a response from AzFlin as of yet.
