DeFi Scam Dilemma in the TRON Ecosystem: Whitelist as a Paper Tiger

A DeFi scam case has caused a huge stir in the Tron ecosystem, once again exposing security vulnerabilities in the decentralized finance sector. According to community disclosures, a project claiming to be a DeFi scam successfully swindled users out of $2 million. What’s even more lamentable is that this scam project was listed on the official whitelist, prompting strong doubts from victims.

Sun Yuchen’s Ambition: Building a Tron DeFi Ecosystem

Driven by the ambition that “the next wave of DeFi will be on Tron,” Sun Yuchen, who has been repeatedly accused of plagiarism, has launched a series of DeFi products. He first launched JUST (JST), claiming it to be “the strongest DeFi project on TRON,” followed by JustSwap, which he declared to be “the Uniswap on TRON.” In August of the same year, he also launched JUSTLend, positioned as “the Compound on TRON.” These initiatives indicate that Sun Yuchen aims to rapidly establish a DeFi ecosystem on Tron by copying existing DeFi projects.

However, the reality proved that this rapid expansion path was not as smooth as expected. The JUST ecosystem has recently faced successive crises, which not only reveal risks associated with individual projects but also expose deep flaws in the entire ecosystem’s review mechanism.

Tron Supernode Scam: How to Bypass the Whitelist?

The most representative case is the Tron Supernode project. This DeFi scam project appeared openly on the whitelist of the JUST Foundation but quickly fled after completing the scam. According to information exposed by the community, Tron Supernode first shut down social media channels like Telegram, then cleared the official website and deactivated related accounts, making it impossible for users to withdraw funds.

The figures involved in this scam are shocking: the total value locked in TRX was as high as $2 million. After the “run,” the remaining balance in the contract was still $1.3 million, but due to restrictions in the whitelist system, users could not withdraw their funds, which were frozen on-chain. Ironically, even long after the incident, information about Tron Supernode could still be found in the JustSwap whitelist.

Why Did the Whitelist System Fail?

The community has raised sharp questions about this. The occurrence of DeFi scams is not accidental; there are systemic review flaws behind them. Initially, the purpose of the Just Foundation establishing a whitelist was to prevent fraudulent projects from entering the ecosystem. However, the final result was that the whitelist became an accomplice to scams, giving criminals opportunities to exploit.

As reported by Block Explorer in March this year, another case within the JUST ecosystem, Djed, was accused of being a direct copy of MakerDAO (MKR) when it was launched. This project was quickly renamed Just afterward. Similar lessons are not isolated, yet they have not prompted sufficient vigilance from ecosystem managers.

The community pointed out that the review process of the Just Foundation has obvious loopholes, especially in the smart contract analysis phase, which is particularly careless. If the contract code logic could be thoroughly analyzed, most DeFi scams should be identifiable. More importantly, the team behind the TRON blockchain explorer initiated the Just Foundation, possessing sufficient technical capability to conduct contract audits. This task should not have been difficult for them.

Systemic Risks of DeFi Scams Seen Through JUST

This incident reflects deeper issues within the DeFi space. When ecosystem managers do not rigorously review projects, or when review processes have blind spots, DeFi scams can take advantage. The whitelist system should serve as a protective shield for users, but in the absence of proper review, it becomes a cover for scams.

Although Tron Supernode has not yet transferred funds on a large scale, its record marked as “suspicious project” on DAppRadar should have raised alarms. This indicates that if different data dimensions within the ecosystem could be better cross-verified, many DeFi scams could be intercepted early.

As of the time of the incident report, both TRON and the Just Foundation had not issued public responses. This silence further deepens community concerns about ecosystem security management. Rooting out DeFi scams requires joint efforts, including project teams’ self-discipline, strict oversight by management bodies, and ongoing community supervision.