DeFi project Curve launches its governance token early after anonymous developer front-run and deployed contracts

DeFi project Curve Finance appears to have been forced to launch its DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) and governance token CRV after an anonymous developer front run and deployed smart contracts without the knowledge of the Curve team.

The anonymous developer, with the handle @0xc4ad, tweeted Thursday from a newly created account that Curve's DAO is "ready to rock." The developer spent 19.9 ETH (~$8,000) in fees to deploy the contracts.

Since the contracts were deployed, some users started staking yCRV tokens, which represent shares of Curve's liquidity pools, to earn CRV tokens. This led to accusations of "pre-mine" among the DeFi community.

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Around 80,000 CRV tokens were reportedly pre-mined before the Curve team verified the deployed contracts. Curve was initially "skeptical," but later found out that the deployment was with "correct code, data and admin keys."

"Due to the token/DAO getting traction, we had to adopt it," said Curve, adding: "The launch has happened."

Some observers have termed the early launch of Curve's DAO and token as "shady." The nature of permissionless networks means anyone can deploy codes. 

Crypto exchanges, including Binance, OKEx and Poloniex, have supported the unexpected launch of CRV. These exchanges are set to list the token soon.

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.