Memecoin is the main culprit behind rug pull incidents.

Written by: Stephen Katte, CoinTelegraph

Translated by: Wu Zhu, Jinse Finance

Compared to 2024, the number of cryptocurrency rug pull cases this year has decreased by 66%, but recent data shows that the scale of each rug pull has been increasing.

According to a report from blockchain analysis platform DappRadar on April 16, the frequency of rug pull incidents has been declining year by year, with 21 independent incidents recorded at the beginning of 2024, while only 7 have occurred so far in 2025.

However, according to DappRadar's report, the Web3 ecosystem has lost nearly $6 billion due to fraud since the beginning of 2025. The report attributes 92% of this decline to the collapse of Mantra's OM token, which the founder strongly denies was a conspiracy.

In contrast, during the same period at the beginning of 2024, the total losses from rug pulls reached $90 million.

DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas stated, "This shift indicates that the phenomenon of rug pull perpetrators is decreasing, but when it does occur, the damage is much greater."

"These scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often orchestrated by teams with polished branding and carefully crafted narratives."

Memecoin is the main culprit behind rug pull incidents

Gherghelas noted that the nature of rug pulls is constantly evolving. In the first quarter of 2024, most originated from DeFi protocols, NFT projects, and memecoins. During the same period in 2025, most rug pulls occurred within memecoins.

The native Solana token Libra (LIBRA) of the Libertad project is one of the recent high-profile rug pull cases; on February 14, after Argentine President Javier Milei posted on X, the company's market value surged to $4.56 billion.

After he deleted the post, the token's price plummeted by over 94%, leading to accusations of price manipulation.

Gherghelas stated, "Fraud and exit scams remain a persistent threat, especially in ecosystems where projects can quickly gain attention through hype but may disappear overnight with users' funds."

"Despite increasing awareness and the growing number of tools to detect suspicious behavior, rug pulls remain a recurring issue, particularly in DeFi and newly launched token ecosystems."

Gherghelas indicated that warning signs of rug pulls include a sudden and unexplained surge in the number of active wallets or unusually high trading volumes with low user activity.

DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas stated that several warning signs may indicate a project is a scam. Source: DappRadar

Meanwhile, unverified smart contracts, limited GitHub activity, or projects with anonymous development teams or DApps that surge overnight may also be warning signs.

"As the industry matures, the tactics used by criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated. But the tools available to users are also becoming more powerful," Gherghelas said.

"While rug pull behavior may never be completely eliminated, its impact can be significantly reduced when users have the right information."

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