Crypto Rug Pulls Are Rarer But More Devastating in 2025: DappRadar

According to a new report from DappRadar, the frequency of crypto rug pulls has dropped sharply in 2025, but the damage caused by each event has grown significantly.

Published on April 16, the report shows a 66% year-over-year decrease in rug pulls compared to early 2024. Only seven incidents have been recorded so far in 2025, down from 21 in the same period last year.

Massive Losses Despite Fewer Incidents

Despite the decline in cases, the financial impact has escalated. According to DappRadar, nearly $6 billion has already been lost to rug pulls in 2025.

However, 92% of that total is attributed to the collapse of Mantra’s OM token, which the project's founders have denied was a rug pull.

In contrast, the same period in 2024 saw losses from rug pulls totaling just $90 million.

“Rug pulls are becoming less frequent but far more destructive,” noted DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas.

She explained that these scams are now more sophisticated, often conducted by teams with polished branding and strategic marketing narratives to lure investors.

Memecoins Dominate 2025 Rug Pulls

The nature of rug pulls is also shifting. In Q1 of 2024, most incidents stemmed from DeFi protocols, NFT projects, and memecoins. But in 2025, memecoins have emerged as the primary source of these scams.

A notable example is the Libertad project’s token, Libra (LIBRA), built on Solana. The token’s market cap surged to $4.56 billion on February 14 after Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoted it on X (formerly Twitter).

Soon after he deleted the post, LIBRA plummeted over 94%, sparking allegations of a pump-and-dump scheme.

“Rug pulls and exit scams remain a persistent threat, especially in hype-driven ecosystems where projects can go viral overnight,” said Gherghelas.

How to Spot a Rug Pull

Despite better tools and growing community awareness, rug pulls remain a serious concern, particularly in DeFi and new token launches.

Red flags to watch for include:

Sudden spikes in unique active wallets without clear cause

Unverified smart contracts

Limited or no GitHub activity

Anonymous developer teams

Unusually high trading volume paired with low user activity

“As the crypto industry matures, so do the methods of bad actors,” Gherghelas added. “But user tools and awareness are also improving. With the right knowledge, we can reduce the impact of these events even if we can’t eliminate them entirely.”

By including relevant keywords and linking to related articles, the rewritten content aims to provide comprehensive information while enhancing search engine optimization for CryptoTelegraphs.

Join Telegram Channel For Daily New update: https://t.me/cryptotelegraphs_updates