Crypto Media Houses Taken In By Fake $10M Uniswap Airdrop Scam

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A scammer deceived several crypto media houses into running stories on a fictitious $10 million Uniswap airdrop on February 15. This comes as the automated market maker (AMM) blockchain protocol announces the timeline for its latest V4 platform.

Crypto News Outlets Promote Fake Uniswap Airdrop

The scammer sent a press release to several reputable crypto news outlets stating that the Uniswap blockchain was launching a $10 million airdrop social media campaign.

The press release, which came with a ‘one-time view’ option, stated that it was meant to commemorate the launch of Uniswap’s V4 platform.

The cybercriminal also coordinated seamlessly with the subsequent announcement of the protocol’s update.

To lend credibility to the deception, the unidentified perpetrator impersonated a representative of Uniswap Foundation—a body dedicated to the growth of the Uniswap ecosystem.

Sharing insights on the scammer’s modus operandi, a news outlet said he referenced a conversation with the VP of Communication for the Uniswap project on the highlighted $10 million.

Further investigation revealed that the press release had embedded tracking links, however. Once clicked, it loaded with a suspicious URL redirecting to a fake Uniswap website.

DailyCoin was one of the crypto media houses scammed. The media company initially published the fraudulent article before deleting it once they discovered the intent.

Earlier this week, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams reported an impersonation scam that targeted his wallet address. Adams stated that the scammer copied his address and added the .eth tag to create an Ethereum Name Service (ENS) address.

first time I've seen this scam, so posting it as a heads up for users and interfaces

someone bought the ens "[myEthereumAddress].eth"

so when you paste in my address, the top result in some UIs is an ens match instead of the resolved ENS name

impt for UIs to filter these out pic.twitter.com/0cQAL5tQ0T

— hayden.eth (@haydenzadams) February 14, 2024

Uniswap V4 Set For Q3, 2024

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Uniswap Foundation revealed that the V4 launch is tentatively set for this year’s third quarter (Q3). This is due to the expected mainnet launch of Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade by March 2024.

The Dencun upgrade is a set of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that feature the hotly anticipated EIP-4844 called Proto-Danksharding.

Proto-Danksharding is expected to reduce the transaction fees of L2 blockchain networks operating on the older smart contract network.

Outlining the roadmap for the V4 launch, the Uniswap Foundation team stated that it would start with an extensive core code completion, testing, gas optimizations, security enhancements, and finalizing the periphery.

The second stage of the launch will see the V4 comprehensively audited by multiple blockchain firms, as well as a community audit.

Additionally, the V4 will be launched on the testnet after final adjustments. The final phase will see the platform launch on the Ethereum mainnet.

Now that the launch of Dencun on Mainnet has been scheduled for March 2024, we're excited to provide an update to the community!

Uniswap v4's launch is tentatively set for Q3 2024.

From community-built Hooks (https://t.co/WyaGr1Ti1t), to events, to Twitter Spaces, the…

— Uniswap Foundation (@UniswapFND) February 15, 2024

The Uniswap team did not mention a $10 million airdrop campaign in the tweet. Meanwhile, the scammer said the airdrop would be done on a ‘first come, first served’ (FCFS) basis—a tactic foreign to the AMM protocol.

Previous airdrops done by the decentralized trading platform often rewarded users with a strong trading history on the platform.

While the ruse took in several news outlets, no financial losses have been reported. Crypto investors are advised to be cautious and only use official channels for up-to-date information.

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