The BitGo code leak and Wintermute signal
I watched a pseudonymous trader, @3i, claim $6 million in profits by exploiting a BitGo code change and Wintermute’s onchain movements. The group targeted memecoins on Robinhood Chain, which launched July 1. @3i noticed a BitGo developer opened a pull request in the BitGoJS repository on July 27 to add the "hoodeth:cashcat" token to the code. This change merged the next day and appeared alongside code for 99 Robinhood stock tokens. @3i, who posts on X, described an "edge" in an article that drew 300,000 views.
| Event Date | Action |
|---|---|
| July 27 | BitGo pull request for Cash Cat |
| July 28 | BitGo merged code change |
| Aug 3, 1:48 p.m. ET | Wintermute approved trading pool |
| Aug 5, 6:31 a.m. ET | Cash Cat added to Wintermute list |
| Aug 6, 9:31 a.m. ET | Robinhood announced Cash Cat listing |
The trader claims they began buying the memecoin in the days after the pull request, eventually accumulating 1.5% of the token’s overall supply, while waiting for a stronger signal from Wintermute’s onchain activity. After noticing that Wintermute moved tokens to Robinhood about an hour before previous memecoin listings, @3i began buying the Cash Cat token to prepare for the eventual Robinhood listing. Following the signal, @3i’s wallet bought 12 million tokens at 2:20 p.m. ET on August 3. I find the strategy predatory. The pair used a bot to catch the exact moment a market maker prepared for a token. At 2:19 p.m. ET, a wallet suspected of belonging to a Robinhood insider placed an $11,000 limit order. @3i responded by buying $1 million worth of Cash Cat at once to reach 4% of the supply.
The Cash Cat trade and PONS honeypot
The Cash Cat trade yielded $4 million for @3i when they sold into the price spike following the August 6 listing. Bubblemaps data shows a wallet spent $1.1 million as part of $2.7 million in total purchases. This wallet bought 12 million tokens just one minute after a suspected insider placed a limit order. The Block identified a Wintermute-labeled contract on Robinhood Chain that keeps a public list of tokens it is approved to trade, but Cash Cat did not appear on that list until 6:31 a.m. ET on August 5. @3i then repeated a similar strategy with PONS, a memecoin launchpad token on Robinhood Chain, starting on August 28. That trade reportedly netted the group $2 million, though the August 2 listing of PONS appeared to be a honeypot for Robinhood to catch insiders.
I would call the PONS situation a blatant trap for traders who thought they found a new edge. @3i noted that the advantage from these methods has since faded. The Department of Justice charged two former Robinhood engineers in September for allegedly trading perpetual futures ahead of listing announcements. Robinhood said they investigated that matter and reported it to law enforcement.
