The "eyewash" in the Crypto Assets World: A Wave of Industrialized Fraud

During the bull market of the Crypto Assets market, the fates of investors can vary significantly. Some have gained astonishing returns by investing in a project at the right time, while many others have suffered heavy losses due to malicious actions from project teams. Recently, the price of Aura (AURA) skyrocketed from $0.001 to $0.008 in just a few hours, marking an increase of 800%, with its trading volume surging over 115,000% compared to the previous day. However, a seasoned Crypto Assets analyst has issued a warning, suggesting that this could be a carefully planned eyewash. This type of crime, known as "Rug Pull," is sweeping the entire Crypto Assets field with astonishing scale and efficiency.

The Astonishing Scale of Rug Pulls

By analyzing smart contracts on major public chains, data shows that over 300,000 tokens have encountered varying degrees of Rug Pull. This means that on average, hundreds of potential "trap coins" are launched into the network every day. On the Ethereum network, there are approximately 266,000 independent addresses dedicated to creating and promoting these fraudulent tokens, forming a vast scam network.

These criminals use convenient coin issuance tools and a large user base to precisely set their bait. Although the average profit per scam project on Ethereum is about $1.65 million, the total illegal income has reached a shocking $502 billion due to the huge number of projects involved.

The situation on other public chains is similarly concerning. For instance, the number of Rug Pull incidents reached 530 and 399 on the Polygon and Linea networks, respectively. Notably, the total profit from attacks on Polygon amounted to $10,140, involving 7,680 tokens in Rug Pulls and 4,640 active fraudulent deployers. Even the relatively new Linea chain has already recorded 4 hard Rug Pull cases that completely drained liquidity.

According to statistics, over 7.05 million investors have directly suffered losses from Rug Pull eyewaash, which means that the wealth of millions of individuals and families has vanished into thin air in these traps.

Types and Characteristics of Rug Pulls

Hard Rug Pull: Complete Capital Plunder

Hard Rug Pull is a direct and thorough fraud method. Scammers quickly withdraw all liquidity from the project by pre-setting malicious code or exploiting vulnerabilities. Some notorious cases include:

• On the Avalanche network, a certain address is associated with 17 Rug Pull tokens and 9 drained liquidity pools, with a siphoning ratio as high as 188.89%.
• On the Polygon network, one address is associated with 88 Rug Pull tokens and 6 liquidity pools, with a staggering withdrawal rate of 1466.67%.

Some scammers even operate simultaneously on multiple blockchain networks, utilizing the characteristics of different chains to evade tracking. For example, there are addresses that have left hard Rug Pull records on both Polygon and Avalanche.

Many scam addresses display a very high frequency of offenses. For example, on Avalanche, one address is associated with 45 Rug Pull tokens and 37 drained liquidity pools. On Polygon, a certain address is associated with 17 Rug coins and 18 liquidity pools, with a drainage rate close to 95%. These data show a highly specialized modus operandi.

It is worth noting that the lifespan of most hard Rug Pull tokens is very short, with some even completing the scam on the day they are created. This "lightning war" type of operation almost gives investors no chance to react or exit.

Soft Rug Pull: Boiling Frogs in Warm Water

Compared to the direct violence of hard Rug Pulls, soft Rug Pulls adopt a more covert and gradual approach. Typically, scammers will withdraw about 50% of the liquidity instead of draining it all at once. This practice does not cause the token price to plummet to zero instantly; rather, it creates the illusion of a slow decline or a temporary adjustment by the project team.

Fraudsters may concoct various reasons, such as "migration contract", "system upgrade", or "responding to market fluctuations", to explain the decrease in liquidity. Some investors may fail to exit in time due to a sense of luck or delayed reactions, ultimately suffering significant losses during the ongoing price decline.

Although the single impact of a soft Rug Pull may seem less severe than that of a hard Rug Pull, its concealment may affect a broader group of investors and cause a more long-term erosion of market confidence.

Development Trends of Rug Pulls

Analyzing on-chain data from 2020 to 2025 reveals that Rug Pull activities exhibit a clear cyclical pattern. The year 2023 marks a peak period for the deployment of fraudulent tokens, with 125,759 fraudulent tokens deployed on Ethereum alone, accounting for 42.3% of the total over the five years. However, this number sharply declines to 69,154 in 2024, representing a year-on-year decrease of 45%.

From 2021 to 2023, the average number of fraud tokens deployed annually on the four major public chains reached 48,721. Notably, the average lifecycle of these eyewash contracts rapidly shortened from 356 days in 2021 to just 3.8 days in 2025, reflecting the rapid evolution of scammers' operating methods and the increased vigilance of investors.

Prevention Suggestions

In the face of such a large and complex eyewash industry chain, investors need to be particularly vigilant. Here are some basic prevention tips:

1. Be wary of promises of high returns, as this is often a sign of an eyewash.
2. Be cautious about projects operated by anonymous teams.
3. Check whether the project has undergone a reliable third-party audit.
4. Carefully examine the situation of liquidity lockup to ensure its authenticity and security.
5. Maintain a skeptical attitude towards excessive hype on social media.
6. Be cautious of tokens that experience abnormal price increases in a short period.
7. Before investing, be sure to check whether the smart contract is open source and verify the team's background.

Conclusion

Rug Pull has developed into an astonishingly large and organized black industrial chain. It has not only caused huge economic losses but also severely damaged the reputation and development of the entire Crypto Assets industry. Uncovering the truth behind these eyewashes is not only to remind investors to pay attention to risks but also to promote the establishment of a more complete regulatory system and self-protection mechanism within the entire industry. Only through joint efforts can we maintain the healthy development of the Crypto Assets market and protect the rights of legitimate investors.