12 Solana-based presale meme coins launched just a month ago have been discovered to be rug pulls after raising over 180,650 SOL tokens worth almost $27 million. This troubling revelation was brought to light by renowned blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who shared a list of the tokens’ names and their X handles, urging users to avoid interacting with them.
Only 1 month has passed, and 12 of the Solana presale meme coins have been completely abandoned after raising >180,650 SOL ($26.7M). Would avoid any future projects launched by these founders. I was interested to see how much SOL has been sent as a result of the presale meta, and I calculated >655,000 SOL ($122.5 million) raised from 27 presales.
Not just scammers but even social media influencers have come under scrutiny. One such is controversial YouTube personality Bryce Hall, who allegedly promoted a dubious Solana presale for a meme coin named URF, which raised approximately 2400 SOL [around $450,000]. Shortly after the campaign, the URF team vanished—social media activities ceased on March 26, and no further updates have been provided.
Investigations reveal that the collected funds are now being funneled into trading other meme coins instead of developing URF. This incident highlights potential risks in the largely unregulated cryptocurrency presale environment.
FTX Plans Auction For Prized Solana Tokens
In another significant development, FTX Estate and its collection of Solana tokens evoked market interest when they earned a whopping $1.9 billion after selling a bunch of these tokens at a set price. But this time, they have switched things up. Instead of just slapping a price tag on these coins, FTX is planning to hold an auction. Although the details are under wraps, Mike Cagney, the organizer of this digital art sale, added a new twist.
These tokens that are locked away in a vault for now are currently priced well below what they might be worth later on, to entice buyers willing to bet on their future value. Despite their potential to fluctuate in price, these tokens have garnered strong interest from investors hoping to score big when they’re finally released.