11 entries in this category.
A Solana memecoin announced by Melania Trump on Jan 19, 2025. Per FT analysis, ~24 wallets bought in minutes before the public announcement and netted ~$99.6M as retail piled in; the token then fell 95%+. Early buys were traced to wallets linked to $LIBRA figure Hayden Davis. No charges have been filed.
A Solana memecoin launched days before Donald Trump's second inauguration (Jan 2025). Trump-linked entities hold 80% of supply and earned $320M+ in fees while ~760,000 mostly-retail wallets lost money; a 'dinner with the president' promotion for top holders drew conflict-of-interest scrutiny. The 'scam' label is contested and no charges have been filed.
A prominent crypto 'market maker' that the U.S. DOJ says ran wash-trading/market-manipulation services (2018–2024) to fake trading volume for token clients (including Saitama and Robo Inu) and win exchange listings. Charged in the FBI's 'Operation Token Mirrors'; founder Aleksei Andriunin pleaded guilty in 2025 and Gotbit forfeited $23M.
A 2021 BNB Chain 'charity' token heavily promoted by influencers, including FaZe Clan members. Its advertised anti-whale limit was changed from 24 hours to 60 seconds just before launch, enabling insiders to dump; widely described as a pump-and-dump.
RaveDAO's $RAVE token spiked thousands of percent (from ~$0.25 to a peak around $19–28) in under a week in 2026, then collapsed ~98%. On-chain investigators including ZachXBT alleged a coordinated pump-and-dump that lured short sellers with ~$42M of inflows to Bitget before a squeeze and dump; Binance and Bitget said they were investigating market-manipulation claims.
An 'AI' meme coin ($SIREN) whose price was widely flagged as a manipulated pump-and-dump in 2026. After a rally of roughly 6,800% on a still-unreleased product, on-chain analysts found the supply heavily concentrated in a handful of wallets; a single whale then dumped ~670M tokens (~92% of circulating supply) for about $64.8M, crashing the price ~95% in a week.
A Solana DEX whose MNGO token was manipulated by trader Avraham Eisenberg in Oct 2022 to borrow ~$110M against an inflated position. He returned ~$67M; a 2024 jury conviction was vacated on appeal in 2025 (venue + no material misstatement), which prosecutors appealed.
An AI trading-terminal token launched via Binance Alpha in Oct 2025 that surged to a multi-billion-dollar FDV — briefly among the largest crypto assets by valuation — before a ~77% crash on Jun 2, 2026. ZachXBT alleges insiders, led by founder Vova Sadkov, control over 95% of supply and ran a coordinated market-maker pump. LAB has not publicly responded; no charges have been reported.
A Solana memecoin tied to viral personality Haliey Welch, launched Dec 4, 2024. Its market cap reached ~$490M before falling 95%+ within hours, prompting rug-pull/pump-and-dump allegations and a securities lawsuit against the operators (not Welch).
A 2021 Ethereum token (unrelated to Ethereum) promoted by celebrities. The SEC charged Kim Kardashian for touting it without disclosing a $250,000 payment; she settled for $1.26M. A private 'pump-and-dump' class action was later dismissed.
A Solana memecoin created by Kelsier Ventures (led by Hayden Davis). After Argentine President Javier Milei promoted it on Feb 14, 2025, its market cap briefly topped ~$4.5B before insiders sold; reporting describes a rug pull with about $251M in investor losses.