Crypto rug pulls have slowed, but are now more devastating: DappRadar
There has been a 66% decrease in crypto rug pulls year-on-year, with 21 incidents in early 2024 compared to seven in 2025. However, losses from rug pulls have reached nearly $6 billion in 2025, primarily due to the collapse of Mantra’s OM token, which the founders deny was a rug pull. In early 2024, losses totaled $90 million. Rug pulls are becoming less frequent but more severe, often executed by teams with sophisticated branding. Most recent rug pulls have originated from memecoins. The Libertad project’s LIBRA token saw a market cap of $4.56 billion before plummeting over 94%. Red flags for potential rug pulls include sudden spikes in active wallets, high volume with low user activity, unverified smart contracts, and anonymous developers. Despite increasing awareness and detection tools, rug pulls remain a significant threat in the crypto ecosystem.
