Report: Rug Pull Incidents in the Crypto Space Have Decreased, but Their Impact Has Grown

2025.04.18 14:25:11

On April 18th, according to a report by Cointelegraph. Based on the latest report from the blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, there were 21 "Rug Pull" incidents in the early part of 2024. In contrast, there were only 7 incidents from 2025 to the present. This indicates a declining frequency year by year. However, since the early 2025, the Web3 ecosystem has lost nearly $6 billion due to such incidents. 92% of this loss was attributed to the collapse of Mantra's OM token (the token's founder denies this was a "Rug Pull"). In contrast, the total loss from "Rug Pull" incidents in the same period of 2024 was $90 million. DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas pointed out that although the frequency of such incidents has decreased, their destructiveness has increased. Scams are becoming more sophisticated and are often orchestrated by professional teams. The nature of these incidents is also evolving. Many incidents in the first quarter of 2024 originated from DeFi protocols, NFT projects, and Meme coins. While in the same period of 2025, they mostly occurred in the Meme coin space. Gherghelas also warned that a sudden surge in the number of active wallets, a high transaction volume but low user activity, unverified smart contracts, limited GitHub activity, anonymous developer teams, or projects with a sudden spike in DApp popularity could all be warning signs of a "Rug Pull."

Add to Favorites Download image Share x Copy link

Relevant content

Greeks.live: Put Options Still Dominate the Market as Institutions Maintain a Bearish Outlook for the Mid- to Long-Term Landscape

February 12: Greeks.live shared on social media that put options continue to dominate the market. Today, large-scale Bitcoin (BTC) put options traded over $1 billion, accounting for 37% of total options volume, with most contracts falling in the $60,000-$65,000 strike price range. For maturity, focus centers on medium-term options expiring next month (March) — a sign institutions hold a bearish view on the medium-to-long-term market trend. Bearish expectations are particularly strong for the 1-2 month horizon.

11 minutes ago

Citigroup: Expects Fed to Start Cutting Rates in May, Earlier Expectation Was March

Citi expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates in May, revising its prior forecast of a March start, according to FX678.

11 minutes ago

「Whale」 liquidated 1800 ETH long position in the past hour, current liquidation price dropped to $1,886.59

**February 11th** Per HyperInsight monitoring (via its Telegram channel @HyperInsight), as the crypto market slid, the “Buddy” cut their 25x-leveraged ETH long position by 1,800 ETH in under an hour. The position was reduced to 500 ETH (valued at ~$869k), with a liquidation price of $1,886.59. Their account balance was just $43k, leading to a cumulative loss of $25.9 million.

11 minutes ago

Bitfury Co-Founder: Recent Crypto Market 50% Dip a Buying Opportunity, Emphasizes Bitcoin Only Part of Diversified Portfolio

On February 11, Val Vavilov—Bitfury co-founder and early Bitcoin investor—characterized the recent 50% crypto market dip as a buying opportunity. While still bullish on Bitcoin, he emphasizes it’s only one component of his diversified investment portfolio, which now includes an AI-driven data center business. Vavilov did not disclose specific purchase amounts, but his strategy contrasts sharply with the heavy bets of other crypto industry heavyweights. For example, Michael Saylor has poured $7 billion into Bitcoin since the October market downturn. By balancing allocations across crypto and AI, Vavilov has maintained asset stability amid market fluctuations, with his net worth currently standing at around $1.1 billion.

11 minutes ago

Ethereum Foundation's AI Lead proposed using "Stake-based Identity" for API calls, Vitalik agreed and stressed the use of ZK privacy payments and reputation mechanisms for innovation

February 11th — Davide Crapis, AI lead at the Ethereum Foundation, noted the internet has turned "access" into an identity-based model: every API call ties to your email, credit card, or wallet address. AI, he warned, will worsen this dynamic. His proposal? Swap identity for staking: a one-time deposit that lets users launch thousands of API calls while staying untraceable. Abuse the system, and your stake gets forfeited. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin agreed, calling this the right path to make Ethereum an AI haven. He stressed fundamental innovation using zero-knowledge (ZK) privacy payments and reputation systems—rather than just copying existing setups onto the blockchain.

11 minutes ago

Hodler: Believes the Fed Still Has Adequate Room to Cut Rates

(Oriental Fortune Network) – February 11: White House Economic Council Chairman Hassett states the Federal Reserve still has ample room to cut interest rates.

11 minutes ago

Hot feeds

A trader profits $448K by monitoring #Binance's new listings!

2024.12.13 17:37:29

A smart #AI coin trader made $17.6M on $GOAT, $ai16z, $Fartcoin,$arc.

2025.01.05 16:05:18

When Elon Musk tweeted about Moltbook, the meme coin MOLT experienced a short-term 30% price surge, hitting a new all-time high of $114 million.

2026.01.31 18:37:29