Scammers are likely to use excitement around the Ethereum Merge to launch new scams aimed at newbie crypto users, PolySwam CEO Steve Bassi has warned.
The Ethereum Merge is expected to take place within the next 24 hours.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Steve Bassi, founder, and CEO of PolySwarm said these scams could come in the form of fake ETH 2.0 tokens, fraudulent mining pools, and fake airdrops.
PolySwam is a decentralized cybersecurity marketplace that connects cybersecurity experts to projects and companies through the use of bounties.
Fraudulent staking pools
The Ethereum upgrade marks the transition from the current proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Bassi said that for many Ether (ETH) holders, joining a staking pool will be their only way of reaping yield from staking rewards if they don’t have the 32 ETH required to become an independent validator.
“Staking is a pretty new concept for most of the crypto community and unless you’ve got 32 ETH lying around you’re going to have to join one of the staking pools to make a yield off your ETH.”
Bassi however warned that pooled staking providers “carry their own risk” as it often requires users to deposit and give up control of their ETH.
Bassi said that upstart staking providers, which “may offer very attractive terms” could perform “sudden rug pulls” that would affect those participating in the pool.
“This risk exists today with DeFi platforms/pools and tokens, but the Merge will give scammers a new character universe to work with.”
Upgrade scam
One of the more imminent threats involves scammers attempting to trick users into signing fraudulent transactions or parting with their private keys under the guise of migrating to the new Ethereum chain.
Bassi reiterated that the upgrade to proof-of-stake should be transparent, and a user should not need to do anything to migrate or preserve their ETH-based tokens, noting:
“We’ll likely see scammers try to get…
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