2025 Crypto Circle Annual Absurdity: Those Identities Exposed by Gabagool, and Wallets That Automatically Reset to Zero

2025 has been a dramatic year for the cryptocurrency industry. From the beginning to the end of the year, this industry has never been quiet—founders disappearing at critical moments, hackers becoming victims, projects staging “pseudo-death dramas,” on-chain detectives turning into thieves… This year, the crypto scene seemed to transform into a stage for absurd comedies. Among them, Gabagool’s journey from on-chain detective to fund thief and finally being exposed as an “undercover” offline exemplifies what “persona collapse” truly means.

The “Disappearance” at the Start of the Year: DIN Founder Loses Multi-Signature Wallet in Myanmar

In February, the DIN project team suddenly issued an emergency statement—their founder Harold “disappeared” on the day of the TGE (Token Generation Event). According to subsequent social media leaks, Harold allegedly lost a multi-signature wallet and a laptop in Myanmar, making him an instant “missing person.”

Ironically, the team announced that the token issuance would proceed as planned—arguing that the multi-signature approval had reached 2/3. This explanation triggered collective community ridicule—“The founder is gone, but the token still launches on time?” Some suspected deliberate hype, while others thought the script was indeed “silly.” Regardless, this incident inadvertently generated a wave of “unexpected hype” for the project.

Plot Twist: Hacker Falls for Phishing, Stolen Funds Are Laundered Again

In April, an even more absurd story unfolded. The hacker who previously attacked zkLend attempted to transfer 2930 ETH stolen via Tornado Cash but accidentally clicked on a phishing site, resulting in all 2930 ETH being stolen.

Even more surreal, the hacker later left a message on zkLend’s official channels, apologizing and saying he was “devastated,” requesting zkLend’s cooperation to recover the funds. This scene completely overturned the “villain” persona—initially intending to launder the funds in one go, he ended up becoming a victim himself.

After investigation, zkLend found that the phishing site had been operating for over five years, accumulating quite a record. The team ultimately decided to cooperate with the hacker’s request, continuously monitor the new wallet addresses of these phishing sites, and contact CEXs and relevant authorities for help. This “black eats black” turnaround was arguably the most ironic “reconciliation” of the year in crypto.

The “Pseudo-Death Master” Jeffy Yu: A Carefully Planned Fake Exit

In May, Zerebro co-founder Jeffy Yu staged a jaw-dropping “resignation show.” First, a video clip of him shooting himself during a live broadcast circulated online, followed by a “obituary” flooding social media. Many initially thought it was just another sensational live stunt like Pump.Fun.

But soon, several KOLs started “debunking” it. Jeffy Yu sent a letter to early investors, confessing that it was a meticulously planned “pseudo-death exit”—he was harassed continuously by a former partner, had his personal information maliciously leaked, and faced online hatred, so he decided to “disappear permanently” through this extreme method. In the letter, he bluntly stated: this was the “only way” to prevent a sharp drop in project token price.

This false death event unexpectedly brought explosive attention to the related meme token LLJEFFY, whose market cap once soared past $30 million. Some commented that this was the first “pseudo-death exit strategy” in crypto history—ridiculous but indeed effective.

Gabagool’s Identity Exposure: From On-Chain Detective to Fund Thief and Undercover

At the FarCon offline conference in May, one of the most surreal “face recognition incidents” of the year occurred. The Base ecosystem’s AI token launcher Clanker suddenly announced the termination of cooperation with core developer proxystudio.

The real twist was proxystudio’s true identity—he was none other than Gabagool.eth, once active in DeFi and renowned for on-chain case tracking. Gabagool was exposed not because of on-chain data analysis, but because he was “recognized at a glance” by an old colleague, Alex Cutler, at a physical event.

Ironically, Gabagool, the “on-chain detective,” was notorious for stealing $350,000 from Velodrome’s wallet in 2022, taking advantage of his position. He only returned most of the funds under community and project pressure but clearly didn’t reflect deeply. Years later, under the identity of proxystudio, he infiltrated the Clanker team, only to be publicly “recognized” offline, causing his new identity to collapse.

This identity exposure was quickly unearthed overnight, and Clanker announced a “parting of ways.” Gabagool’s journey from on-chain detective to fund thief and finally being exposed as an “undercover” exemplifies what “persona collapse” truly means.

Wallets “Auto-Zero”: Alby’s Service Terms Trap

In June, multiple users reported that their balances on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network wallet Alby suddenly disappeared. Reviewing the terms of service, everyone was stunned—Alby’s updated terms in March 2025 stated that for old accounts created before 2023 using shared wallet architecture, if there was no transaction activity for 12 consecutive months, the platform reserved the right to deduct the entire remaining balance.

This hidden “harvesting clause” in the terms of service sparked a wave of criticism. Although Alby claimed to have notified users months in advance, most people apparently didn’t read the update carefully. This “official zeroing” incident exposed a phenomenon: some platforms are scheming to target users’ “sleeping funds.”

Digital Ghost: Paxos’ Massive Minting Error

In October, stablecoin issuer Paxos accidentally minted 300 trillion PYUSD—equivalent to 300 trillion dollars based on a 1:1 USD peg. How absurd is this number? According to IMF data, it exceeds the combined GDP of all countries in the world by more than double.

Fortunately, Paxos responded swiftly, destroying all tokens within 22 minutes of discovering the error. This “false alarm” became one of the most ironic events of the year—if only operations are proper, blockchain could instantly “solve” global debt problems… of course, at the cost of blowing itself up.

Altcoin Pumpers’ “K-Line Art” and Project Teams’ “Admitting Defeat Moments”

There are two more events this year that exemplify the industry’s “creative” side. Some altcoin pumpers, in order to manipulate prices, abandoned quantitative trading and resorted to manually drawing bizarre candlestick charts—so strange that people wondered whether they were trading coins or “drawing pictures.”

Meanwhile, the Solana ecosystem’s Eclipse project publicly claimed it was “a 36-month sociology research project conducted by Harvard University,” and openly stated during project introduction, “We have no users.” This blatant “admitting defeat” surprisingly gained collective praise from the community—at least they were honest.

The “Shameful Moments” in Celebrity Coin Launches

Toward the year’s end, even as the hype around former US President Trump’s coin TRUMP hadn’t subsided, his wife Melania launched a token called MELANIA late at night. The move immediately drew widespread ridicule—some said that if there were a “shame pillar” in crypto, MELANIA should be carved at the top, and it itself is a “shame” on that pillar.

This celebrity coin craze spread from politics and business to entertainment, reflecting the industry’s restlessness and speculative tendencies. When financial innovation turns into a celebrity show, perhaps it’s time for reflection.

The Cost and Warnings of 2025

Looking back at 2025, from DIN’s founder disappearance, Gabagool’s identity exposure, Paxos’ massive minting error, to Melania’s “shame token,” this year in crypto resembles an endless “absurd drama.”

These incidents reveal various industry issues: lack of security audits, dishonesty among project teams, information asymmetry among users, regulatory gaps. Gabagool’s full cycle from “on-chain detective” to “fund thief” and “exposed undercover” perhaps best illustrates how “silly” this industry can be—here, no one is truly trustworthy, identities can flip at any moment.

But these absurd stories, these scandals exposed, these moments of self-destruction have become souvenirs as we reach the year’s end. 2025 is about to pass, and crypto participants are still here—witnessing Gabagool’s collapse or losing their hard-earned money in Alby’s “zeroing.” In this “casino,” “amusement park,” and “experimental field,” we record the madness of 2025 with these silly stories.