Nearly 99% of tokens on Pump.fun are Rug Pull or Pump-Dump

A new report from Solidus Labs has exposed a troubling reality of widespread fraud on the Solana blockchain, revealing that up to 98.6% of tokens launched via the Pump.fun platform are identified as rug pulls or high-risk pump-and-dump schemes.

Since its launch in January 2024, Pump.fun has seen over 7 million tokens created. However, only around 97,000 tokens have maintained liquidity above $1,000. The platform allows users to launch tokens on Solana with extremely low costs, fostering both innovation and malicious schemes. While the crypto industry has seen a partial recovery since the FTX collapse, hacks and scams remain rampant, preying on retail investors’ greed to siphon off millions of dollars.

The memecoin sector is a clear example of this chaos. Tens of thousands of fraudulent tokens are launched daily, fueling a memecoin frenzy that peaked in January 2025 when U.S. President Donald Trump promoted the TRUMP token on social media. Soon after, First Lady Melania Trump introduced the MELANIA token. Both tokens quickly collapsed, losing 87% and 97% of their value respectively, while an alleged insider group profited over $100 million by buying in before public listings.

On Raydium, a popular decentralized exchange on Solana, Solidus Labs identified that 93% of liquidity pools—roughly 361,000 pools—show characteristics of “soft rug pulls”, with an average value per scheme around $2,800. Earlier in February 2025, Merkle Science reported that over $500 million was stolen through rug pulls and crypto frauds in 2024 alone.

Solana is becoming a preferred haven for scammers and fraud rings, thanks to its near-zero transaction fees and instant finality. These features make launching tokens and withdrawing funds easier and faster than ever, creating loopholes for illegal activities.

This situation serves as a stark warning about the inherent risks in the crypto space—where opportunity and danger go hand in hand.

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