Crypto Market Turmoil: Major Rug Pulls of 2024

Crypto Caution: Top Rug Pulls That Shook Investors

The cryptocurrency market, known for its volatility and rapid changes, has recently been rocked by a series of high-profile rug pulls. These exit scams, where developers abandon projects after draining funds, have left investors reeling and highlighted the risks inherent in the crypto space. This article examines some of the most shocking rug pulls that have occurred recently, including incidents involving Neiro, ETHTrustFund, 50 Cent's X account, and Catwifhat.

Neiro Developer Nets $2.85M in Alleged Rug Pull

The developer of the Solana-based memecoin Neiro has reportedly made a $2.85 million profit in what appears to be a rug pull. This profit represents a 5,169x return on an initial investment of just 3 SOL (around $550).

 The developer sold 68 million Neiro tokens for 15,511 SOL ($2.85 million) through multiple wallets and sent 10 million Neiro to a dead wallet, leaving 19.5 million Neiro with an unrealized profit of $1.8 million. The significant sale of holdings by the developer wallet suggests a potential rug pull, a type of exit scam where insiders sell off their token allocation and abandon the project.

ETHTrustFund Executes $2M Rug Pull

ETHTrustFund (ETF), a Base network protocol, transferred $2 million from its treasury to Tornado Cash and Railgun mixer apps on July 20, then deleted all its websites and social media accounts. This led security experts to label it a "rug pull" or exit scam. The incident was first reported by crypto market investor Octoshi on July 21, and confirmed by blockchain security firm PeckShield on July 22.

The project, conceived as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with rebasing features, issued blockchain-based bonds and ETF tokens to investors. However, the promised debasing period never occurred, and the lead developer stopped responding to messages in April before allegedly executing the rug pull in July.

50 Cent's X Account Hacked for Memecoin Rugpull

Rapper 50 Cent, also known as Curtis James Jackson III, claimed that his X account and website were hacked to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency token called "GUNIT." Hackers used his large following to pump up the token's price before crashing it, a scheme known as a "rug pull." The token's price plummeted to $0.00016. 

Jackson informed his 32.8 million Instagram followers about the hack, stating that the hackers made $300 million in 30 minutes, although the actual trading volume was $19.4 million. Multiple wallets sold significant amounts of GUNIT, with four accounts selling over $100,000 each. Jackson emphasized he had no association with the crypto scam.

Catwifhat's Double Rug Pull Saga

Last year in November, crypto developers created the Dogwifhat token, leveraging a popular meme. Influencers like Joji promoted it, leading to its rapid popularity. Following this, Catwifhat was launched but quickly became an alleged exit scam, with the developer dumping tokens and removing liquidity, netting around $265.

Despite this, the Catwifhat community regrouped, with new investors and influencers like Joji promoting it. However, a second rug pull occurred when a social media manager removed liquidity, causing a significant price drop. The token's price fell from $0.00431771 to $0.00098130, a 76% decline.

Despite these setbacks, the community continued to push the project forward, with efforts to create an NFT marketplace using CIF tokens. As of April 2, CIF was priced at $0.001451 with a market cap of $1,451,116. The story highlights the resilience of some investors but also underscores the ongoing risks of rug pulls in the crypto market, which have caused significant losses.

Conclusion

The recent wave of rug pulls has brought into focus that more than ever, it is pertinent to be cautious in the cryptocurrency market. From the Neiro developer’s $2. From 85 million profit to ETHTrustFund’s $2 million exit scam, such events have led to massive losses and eroded trust among investors. Celebrities are not spared either, for instance, 50 Cent has also fallen victim to these scams. However, some of the communities such as the Catwifhat have not relented and are willing to reconstruct their homes. Thus, investors need to remain vigilant and wary about the crypto market to maximize the benefits as well as minimize the dangers that come with it.

Also Read: Nomad Bridge Hack: Hackers Buy Cheap ETH Using Stolen Funds