In the volatile world of cryptocurrency, "rug pulls" have become an increasingly common scam tactic. These deceptive schemes leave investors with worthless assets when project creators suddenly abandon ship or drain funds. Here's a comprehensive look at 20 different types of rug pulls investors should watch out for.
Common Rug Pull Types
Liquidity Rug Pull When developers suddenly drain all funds from a token's trading pool on decentralized exchanges, making it impossible for investors to sell their holdings.
Developer Rug Pull Project developers abuse their control by minting excessive tokens or manipulating governance systems to steal investor funds.
Smart Contract Rug Pull Hidden backdoors in project code allow developers to withdraw funds or mint unlimited tokens, eventually crashing the token value.
Presale Rug Pull After collecting investor funds during an initial token sale, developers abandon the project entirely.
Pump and Dump Rug Pull Artificial price inflation through coordinated buying and marketing, followed by developers selling off large holdings.
Exit Scam Rug Pull
Complete project abandonment after accumulating substantial investor funds.
Token Burn Rug Pull Developers burn tokens to create false scarcity while retaining control of other mechanisms to later exploit.
Airdrop Rug Pull Free token distributions used to build legitimacy before draining project liquidity.
Validator/Mining Pool Rug Pull Pool operators disappear with staked assets or mining rewards.
Developer Wallet Whitelist Rug Pull Manipulation of whitelist systems to give developers exclusive selling privileges.
FOMO Rug Pull Creating artificial urgency to push hasty investments before pulling liquidity.
Exchange Exit Rug Pull Cryptocurrency exchanges suddenly shutting down with user funds.
Governance Rug Pull Exploiting voting systems to pass proposals that drain project funds.
Fake Partnerships Rug Pull Using false company partnerships and team members to build artificial credibility.
Token Supply Rug Pull Manipulating token supply through minting or changing tokenomics post-launch.
Liquidity Mining Rug Pull Exploiting liquidity mining programs to steal provided funds.
Token Lockup Rug Pull Breaking promised token lockup periods to dump holdings early.
NFT Rug Pull Selling NFTs with false utility promises before abandoning the project.
Phantom Product Rug Pull Building hype around non-existent products or services to attract investment.
Yield Farming Rug Pull Offering unsustainable high yields to attract liquidity before draining funds.
These scams highlight the importance of thorough research and careful consideration before investing in cryptocurrency projects. Understanding these tactics can help investors identify red flags and protect their assets.