A Deep Dive Into Rug Pulling – A Treacherous Cryptocurrency Scam

The world of cryptocurrency is very fast-paced and exciting for many people, especially investors who are looking to make a profit. However, one of the biggest issues surrounding this world is that it’s often unregulated, which allows scammers to take advantage of unsuspecting victims with ease.

When it comes to the cryptocurrency market, there are more scams than anyone can count, with new ones emerging daily as it seems. But for now, we’d like to focus on rug pulling, a very treacherous trend many cryptocurrency investors have fallen victim to.

What Is Rug Pulling?

Rug pulling is a type of crypto scam in which developers of a new currency draw in investors, take their funds, and “pull the rug from under them”. 

They do this by stealing all of their money and leaving them with nothing more than worthless tokens and a financial abyss.

How Does Rug Pulling Work?

It all starts with a lot of hype, which the scammers create with enticing features and big promises of very high returns. They often implement aggressive marketing campaigns and present false data to get potential investors intrigued.

Of course, the scammers will do everything to stand out in this oversaturated cryptocurrency market, which is why they inject funds into their fake coin’s liquidity pool. This creates a false sense of security in investors because it seems as if the currency in question has stable value and is in active trading.

When enough people purchase the coin and the scammers are satisfied with their earnings, they “pull the rug”. This is when the developers withdraw all the money they themselves invested in the token, and cause the worth to crash drastically.

And before investors know what happened, the scammers are gone without a trace.

How To Recognize a Rug Pull

Investing in cryptocurrency can be a great opportunity, and scammers shouldn’t deter you from it. Nonetheless, it’s important to stay vigilant and understand how to recognize a coin might be a potential rug pull.

Here are some warning signs and red flags you should keep an eye out for.

• Big and unrealistic promises. When someone is offering you high earnings that seem too good to be true, that’s a red flag for all investment opportunities, including crypto. If you come across a project that is promising astronomical growth and outlandish returns, it’s probably not legitimate.
• No transparency. If you’re investing your hard-earned money into something, you should have all the details. And with rug pulling scams, a lot of details are vague and confusing. This typically includes the names of the people behind the project as well as their background and expertise.
• A sudden volatility in price. If a cryptocurrency coin is experiencing sudden and rapid price volatility, either an increase or a decrease, it’s often a bad sign and an indication of a scam.

Protect Yourself

No matter if you’re an experienced investor or are thinking about getting into the crypto game, you can never be too cautious and do your part to ensure you and your finances are protected. Of course, nothing is ever 100% sure in the world of investments, however, you have a much higher chance of making a profit on your investments if you know how to stay clear of scams.

Here’s what you need to remember:

• Always do your research. One of the most common mistakes investors make is rushing into what they think is a good opportunity without doing proper research. When you’re enticed by a crypto coin, your first move should be to thoroughly research the project as well as the developers.
• Only use reputable platforms. As cryptocurrency is very popular, there are too many trading platforms to choose from. However, not all of them are trustworthy so make sure you only use reputable platforms that have anti-fraud policies as well as robust security measures.
• Never put all your eggs in one basket. When you invest and trade in cryptocurrencies, one of the smartest things you can do is diversify your portfolio. Spread your investment across different currencies and even if you end up losing money on one project, you won’t lose everything.
• Don’t trust the hype. Trends come and go, and very rarely is investing money in a trend a smart idea. So don’t allow yourself to be swept away by hype and a passing trend.

Final Thoughts

The cryptocurrency space is riddled with various scams, and this is a serious problem for thousands of investors who have already lost money to them. If you want to protect yourself from rug pulling, you need to conduct all trading through due diligence and exercise caution.

Keeping yourself safe from these predatory schemes keeps getting harder and harder as scammers come up with new ways to trick honest and hard-working people. So, the best we can all do is stay informed.