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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business
Marvie Basilan

Top Crypto Researcher Flags 12 Founders Who Raised $26M Then 'Abandoned' Their Meme Coins

Solana is a popular blockchain platform, but it has also become the breeding ground of a growing number of "abandoned" meme coins. (Credit: Shubham's Web3/Unsplash)

KEY POINTS

  • Pokeepandaa raised the largest amount from pre-selling the LIKE token, as per ZachXBT
  • He called MILK token founder Vombatus_Eth was a "huge grifter"
  • He also noted that THICK meme coin founder Emperor pocketed a percentage of the token's LP

ZachXBT is back in his game, tracking some of the unnoticed scams in the cryptocurrency space as he flagged 12 founders of presale meme coins on blockchain platform Solana that raised millions collectively only to "abandon" their projects.

The prominent blockchain security researcher who describes himself as a "rug pull survivor turned 2D detective" flagged the following founders for creating meme coins on Solana that have since been "abandoned": @Pokeepandaa (LIKE), @RockyXBT (MOONKE), @Pepecasso1 (FROG), @TemplePharmacy_ (TEMPLE), @Vombatus_Eth (MILK) @Jared_eth, @BlueKirbyFTM (GOOEY), @Emperor (THICK), @urfSOL (URF), @Mr_Alevi (FORM), and @Gabrielesm1 (CRYING).

The said founders raised a collective 180,650 SOL (the Solana network's native cryptocurrency) worth some $26.7 million, according to ZachXBT. "Would avoid any future projects launched by these founders," he warned crypto users Sunday.

Founder Pokeepandaa raised the largest amount of SOL at 52,220, followed by RockyXBT with 37,470 raised, and Pepecasso1, who raised nearly 30,000 SOL. Founder Jared_eth never launched his meme coin, as per the crypto security researcher.

ZachXBT engaged with his followers in the comments section, calling Vombatus_Eth a "huge grifter," or a con artist who swindles people out of money using fraudulent tactics. He also noted that Emperor, the founder of the THICK token, "bundled launch for profit + pocketed % of LP," or liquidity provider tokens which are rewards that help facilitate transactions between various types of digital assets.

Other crypto users gathered under the post to express their thoughts about rug pulls – a type of scam in the digital assets world wherein a founder or developer raises funds then abandons the project after taking investors-victims' money – in the industry.

One user said pre-selling a meme "doesn't make any sense to begin with." The X handle of popular Solana meme coin DUK said a meme token will only "do great if the community is great and you can't presale your way into knowing that." Another user reiterated that the only meme coins that have huge potential are those that can retain a bull status for up to 12 months, "not a few hours."

"Everything depends on tokenomics. Meme coins should be born and be fully community driven. The contract should be clear, and the team shouldn't have ANY allocations = 0%," one user said.

Rug pulls aren't new in the crypto community, which is why ZachXBT asked in March not to be tagged whenever new pre-sale meme coins emerge as "people were warned early on and saw how all of these turned out yet chose to be greedy & sent more to influencers."

This isn't the first time ZachXBT has called out rug pulls in the crypto space. His most recent red flag post was in March, when he urged crypto users to be careful when looking into projects on crypto market maker Gotbit, which has seen multiple rug pull projects.

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