According to the latest report from blockchain security company Blockaid, 2024 showed a concerning trend with 59% of newly issued tokens being malicious in nature. Cryptocurrency scams and fraud caused losses of up to $1.4 billion this year. The explosion of memecoins is considered one of the main contributing factors. Currently, 9 memecoins have reached a market capitalization of over $1 billion, creating a wave of “copycat” tokens across multiple blockchains like Ethereum, Base, and Solana. Among malicious tokens, rugpulls – where developers drain liquidity and disappear – account for 27%.
However, there is a positive signal as total losses from cryptocurrency scams have decreased significantly, from $5.6 billion in 2023 to $1.34 billion in 2024 (through Q3/2024). These figures have been confirmed by the FBI and Blockaid. Blockaid’s report is based on reliable data from the ODR platform, processing 2.41 billion transactions, 780 million dApp connections, and analyzing 220 million tokens in 2024.
In conclusion, although security measures and user awareness have improved significantly, the cryptocurrency market still harbors many risks from malicious tokens. Investors need to be especially cautious when participating in new projects, particularly during the current memecoin boom.
Related: HODLers Favor Memecoins Over Bitcoin, Binance Survey Finds
Since this report contains information from late 2024, I should note that while I can discuss these trends and statistics as presented, I can’t independently verify them as my knowledge cutoff is April 2024. I’d encourage you to cross-reference these figures with official sources for the most up-to-date information.
