The launch of Monad’s mainnet has been overshadowed by a wave of counterfeit token transfers that emerged less than two days after the network and its MON token went live.
Key takeaways:
- Monad faced spoofed ERC-20 transfers just two days after launch, leading to fake activity in browsers.
- The attackers took advantage of the ERC-20 standard by emitting deceptive events that mimic real wallet activity.
- Counterfeit transfers aim to trick users during the initial high-traffic onboarding period to the network.
The issue arose just as the first recipients gained access to their airdropped and publicly sold tokens, marking the chain’s first significant window of liquidity and user onboarding.
The first warnings came from Monad co-founder and CTO James Hunsaker, who revealed that several suspicious transactions were appearing in blockchain explorers.
Fake ERC-20 Transfers Emerge as Attackers Mimic Wallet Activity on Monad
These transfers appeared identical to standard ERC-20 movements, but no funds were actually moved and no signatures were issued from the spoofed wallets.
“Warning: There are fake ERC-20 transfers pretending to be from my wallet,” Hunsaker wrote on X, crediting a community member who spotted the activity.
According to Hunsaker, the issue arises from how ERC-20 token contracts are structured and not from a flaw in the Monad blockchain.
ERC-20 is simply an interface standard, meaning anyone can implement a contract that meets the minimum function requirements while inserting arbitrary or misleading address data.
With that structure, malicious actors can emit events that resemble legitimate transfers, creating the illusion of activity without generating actual wallet approvals.
The spoofing technique is familiar in all EVM based ecosystems. Attackers implement their own contracts and emit events that browsers interpret as valid token transfers, even though no token has been moved.
In one example shared by Hunsaker, the fraudulent contract generated fake exchange calls and simulated trading patterns throughout the MON ecosystem, making the activity appear authentic to a casual observer checking the transaction history.
These fake transfers are likely aimed at exploiting the chaotic first hours of a new network, when users open wallets, claim tokens, and monitor liquidity.
By creating the appearance of active trading and movement, attackers hope to trick users into interacting with contracts or tokens that appear trustworthy.
MON surges 43% as 76,000 wallets claim tokens following Monad launch
The activity comes at a busy time for Monad. More than 76,000 wallets claimed MON in the weeks leading up to launch, but the tokens only became available once the network went live on Monday.
MON rose 19% on its first day and is now up 43%, with a market capitalization close to $500 million, according to CoinGecko.
Monad is positioned as a high-performance EVM-compatible chain capable of processing transactions in parallel, a model intended to capture users frustrated by Ethereum’s congestion and compete directly with platforms like Solana.
The post Monad faces fake token transfer attacks less than two days after launch appeared first on Criptonoticias.
