Trusta AI smart contract exploit leads to TA token crash days after launch

Trusta AI (TA) tokens became the target of a liquidity pool exploit, just hours after the asset launched on Binance Alpha. TA slid as the attackers staged a fake liquidity pool. 

Blocksec Phantom intercepted worrying transfers from an unknown smart contract on BNB Smart Chain, as Trusta AI tokens appear to be crashing due to a smart contract attack.  

The contract caused a series of TA token transactions, with initial losses estimated at around $600K. After the initial attack, the losses stopped at around $615K. 

Investigators were unable to pinpoint the exact content of the contract, as it was not open source. Blocksec Phantom advises BNB Smart Chain users to revoke permission for the flawed contract. Until permission is revoked, the wallets remain exposed and may be drained of other assets. Any wallet that interacted with the rogue contract is at risk of losing its balances. 

ALERT! Our system has detected a series of malicious transactions targeting an unverified contract (0x16d7c6f43df19778e382b7a84bcb8c763971a551) on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), with losses exceeding $600K. Since the contract is not open-source, our investigation indicates the…

— BlockSec Phalcon (@Phalcon_xyz) July 23, 2025

The attack happened just a day after the TA trading launch, where the token reached $63M trading volumes as the latest Binance Alpha selection. 

Trusta AI attacked by rogue smart contract

According to Certik, the attacker created two smart contracts that spoofed Trusta AI trading, making users pay exorbitant fees. The attackers then traded TA on legitimate liquidity pools. The rogue contract was generated two days ago and credited with only 0.3 BNB. 

As a result, TA sank to $0.09, down from an initial price of $0.17. The token is still in early price discovery, and it remains uncertain how much of the selling was due to the exploit, and what part was the selling that originated from early TGE token recipients. 

Trusta AI was just launched as part of the Binance Alpha program for selected tokens, meaning most of the affected users were small-scale holders with self-custodial wallets. 

Token recipients pre-approved the contract, allowing it to spend TA

The main problem with the Trusta AI exploit was the pre-approved access of the contract. As a result, tokens were taken from self-custodial wallets, which would otherwise hold TA safely. 

Apparently, TA recipients had pre-approved the contract address. The exploit also affected WBNB tokens, selling via malicious liquidity pools at unfair rates. 

As a result of the rogue trading, Trusta AI had different price ranges in its various versions. TA on Base still traded at $0.14, while on BNB Smart Chain the asset retained its lower level of $0.09. The initial attack account then simply withdrew the allowed tokens. 

One of the exploit wallets currently carries over 408 WBNB, among other smaller token holdings. 

The affected wallets also pre-approved specific tokens; thus, not all assets were affected. Pre-approved tokens are a common feature for BNB Chain, allowing for faster token swaps or lending. Unvetted permissions to smart contracts for automated trading may quickly turn risky.

BNB Chain and Trusta AI remain safe, as well as the TA tokens. Soon after the attack, some of the TA pairs recovered, pushing the token as high as $0.23. For now, there is no mention of freezing the tokens or attempting to revert the transactions. 

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