Memecoin Mania: Top Memecoin Rugs In 2023

Memecoins remains one of the main sources of “generational wealth” in the crypto space. These tokens and protocols, designed to mimic several memes or any funny idea captured in an image, have produced numerous millionaires and simultaneously wrecked many in the industry.

Recently, $PEPE, $MONG, $WOJAK, $AIDOGE, and more have recorded huge gains despite having no core utilities. This is due to the hype in the memecoin ecosystem. As such, there have been a few cases of scams, otherwise called rugpulls.

These scammers have negatively tapped the memecoin hype and enticed desperate investors looking to flip $20 into millions. This article will look at the most recent memecoin rugs, which have crippled many investors in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space.

WSB Coin ($WSB)

WSB Coin, according to its website, is the “official unofficial memecoin of r/wallstreetbets subreddit.” The memecoin, built on the Ethereum network, launched on May 2. Notwithstanding some controversies, the token’s launch successfully recorded over $100M in transactions within the first 24 hours.

The first controversy started with the name WSB. According to several reports, the WSB coin was impersonating another protocol, but the team did well to downplay the rumours with Twitter spaces not long before d3ploy detected some questionable activity in the project’s smart contract.

The security firm said the WSB team rugged for 334 ETH ($649K). This occurred after the team disclosed that they have no token allocation, instead reserving 10% of coins for the subreddit. The team’s statement was proven false by a Twitter user, Eric Cryptoman, after identifying a wallet with 10% of the token’s supply, dumping tokens.

The thread above shared more details about the incident. In the meantime, the token is still active but has declined significantly. The team is also constantly hosting Twitter spaces with the promise of a big week and a potential recovery in the $WSB price. BSC News advises to always do thorough research before investing in the memecoin.

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YODA Coin ($YODA)

YODA is another Ethereum-based memecoin that rugged within a short period of time, despite having some traces of legitimacy. The memecoin, which joined Twitter in May, immediately got a verified organization badge, massive followership, and teased its token launch on May 4. Possibly, this might have raised some question marks about the protocol’s long-term building. To some, it was probably another memecoin fast pump in the making.

Peckshield disclosed that the memecoin rugged moments after launching its token, deleting its official Twitter account. According to the Web3 security platform, the scammer stole 68 ETH, worth approximately $130K from users. Further, there were some reports about the platform opening nine different Twitter accounts also to defraud users, enticing them to invest in the presale and earn an airdrop.

You can learn more about the $YODA rug in our recent article.

Jugs ($JUGS)

Like WSB Coin, Jugs showed promising signs with a lot of hype in the industry. The memecoin gained so much attention that a Twitter user, Titan, identified the culprits and threatened to take the case to court.

Multiple sources claimed that the Ethereum-based memecoin was rugged by influencers and 72 ETH was stolen. Further, through several messages via blockchain, ZachXBT, a renowned on-chain analyst, discovered that the founders and influencers staged the rug. In simple terms, everybody was involved.

Jugs rug caused a lot of turmoil on Twitter, particularly because some top influencers were involved. One on-chain message from the memecoin deployer to ZachXBT exposed the influencers’ dirty scheme.

“If you want to know the truth about Jugs, they are all lying. Influencers want to rug,” the message read.

Refer to the thread to learn more.

Investing in memecoins is always a risk. Not every memecoin is the next big thing in the industry. As such, it is advisable to thoroughly research before taking the risk with any memecoin.

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