Potential Risks in the Crypto Assets World: The Rampant Rug Pull Eyewash

During the bull market in the Crypto Assets market, investors often hear legendary stories of becoming rich overnight. However, accompanying this are numerous tragedies of losing everything due to project parties absconding with funds. Recently, the price of the Aura (AURA) token skyrocketed by 800% in just a few hours, prompting warnings from industry experts. This crime pattern, known as "Rug Pull," is spreading in the Crypto Assets field on an industrial scale.

The Astonishing Scale of Rug Pulls

According to statistics from a certain data platform, there are over 300,000 tokens on the four major public chains that have experienced varying degrees of Rug Pull incidents. This means that on average, hundreds of "trap coins" are launched onto the network every day. On the Ethereum network, there are over 260,000 unique addresses specifically engaged in creating and promoting fraudulent tokens.

Although the average profit of a single scam project is about 1.65 million dollars, the total illegal income reaches up to 502 billion dollars due to the large number of projects involved. This astonishing figure highlights the tremendous harm of Rug Pull eyecandy.

Multi-Chain Crimes and High-Frequency Eyewash

Data shows that scammers often roam across multiple blockchain networks to commit crimes. For example, some addresses have Rug Pull records on both Polygon and Avalanche, using the characteristics of different chains to commit crimes and evade tracking.

Some fraudulent addresses exhibit a very high frequency of criminal activity. For example, an address on Avalanche is associated with 45 Rug Pull tokens and 37 drained liquidity pools. This "hit-and-run" pattern demonstrates highly specialized criminal techniques.

Types and Cycles of Rug Pulls

Rug Pull is mainly divided into two types:

1. Hard Rug Pull: Scammers swiftly withdraw all liquidity from the project by pre-setting malicious code or exploiting vulnerabilities, causing the token price to drop to zero instantly.

2. Soft Rug Pull: The scammers gradually withdraw about 50% of the liquidity, causing the token price to decline slowly, often disguised under excuses like "upgrading the system".

Data shows that 2023 is the year with the highest deployment of Rug Pull tokens, reaching 125,759 on Ethereum alone, accounting for 42.3% of the total over the past five years. However, the deployment volume in 2024 has significantly decreased, which may reflect certain changes in the market or the effects of regulatory measures.

Prevention Suggestions

In the face of such rampant Rug Pull eyewash, investors should remain vigilant:

1. Be cautious of high return promises and anonymous teams.
2. Check if the project has been audited by a reputable auditing firm.
3. Verify the team's background and the liquidity lock-up situation.
4. Maintain a skeptical attitude towards excessive hype on social media.
5. Be wary of tokens that experience abnormal surges in a short period.

Conclusion

The data on Rug Pull eyewash is shocking: hundreds of thousands of fraudulent tokens, hundreds of thousands of scam deployers, trillions of dollars in illegal gains, and over seven million victims. This is not merely an issue of individual investment mistakes but a systematic attack on the trust foundation of the entire blockchain and Crypto Assets industry. Exposing these dark truths is not only to remind investors to be aware of risks but also to promote the establishment of a more完善 regulatory system for the healthy development of the entire industry.