Dubai-based Indian memecoin creator, Sahil Arora, referred to as memecoin rug pull schemes essentially the most profitable alternative in an interview with the New York Publish. In line with the Might 17 article, Arora, who boasts of incomes thousands and thousands of {dollars} from over 100 memecoin rug pulls, mentioned:
“The best solution to make cash is to deploy a meme coin, run it, after which promote as quickly as you see [profits].”
In rug pulls or pump-and-dump schemes, unhealthy actors create a nugatory memecoin, use false or paid endorsements to put it up for sale, and promote it as quickly as the worth goes up. The creators often management a big portion of the tokens, and promoting off the pile causes the worth to crash.
Due to this fact, traders bear the losses whereas the creator makes off with thousands and thousands. In August 2024, crypto sleuth ZachXBT estimated that Arora earned between $2 million and $3 million by memecoin scams.
Final yr, Arora advised The Defiant that it “took a lotta mind pulling that [rug pulls] off.” Arora, who’s proud to have been referred to as a “tremendous villain,” overtly advised the Publish that rug pulling is the “largest on line casino on Earth proper now.”
Veteran crypto investor Kyle Chassé advised the Publish:
“…not less than within the on line casino, you realize that perhaps 60 p.c of the time the home wins. On this [crypto] on line casino, the home goes to win 99 p.c of the time.”
Arora added:
“Should you don’t get rugged by me, you’re in all probability going to get rugged by another person. So, you may as effectively get rugged by an individual with a observe file of some success reasonably than getting rugged by a random particular person on the Web.”
Arora continues to hold out memecoin rug pulls
Final yr, a number of celebrities accused Arora of utilizing memecoins related to them to orchestrate and pull off pump-and-dump scams. This included former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, Dimitri Leslie Roger, an American rapper often called Wealthy the Child, and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.
Regardless of the accusations and Arora’s non-denial of involvement, he managed to drag off extra rug pulls. In February 2025, Arora, who portrays a lavish way of life from cash earned by rug pulls, launched the token BROCCOLI, an ode to former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ’s) canine, utilizing the identical pockets he used to launch Jenner’s official memecoin in 2024. Arora advised Decrypt that he made $6.5 million by dumping Brocolli tokens.
Pseudonymous crypto advisor Cryptony advised the Publish that the worth of memecoins like Brocolli solely goes up due to giant demand after endorsements or promotions. He added:
“[In rug pulls] The wealthy get richer. For one particular person to make cash, one other particular person has to lose cash. That’s the place it comes from.”
Arora is considered one of many
A number of influencers have been accused of selling memecoins that crash in worth. This contains YouTuber Paul “Ice Poseidon” Denino, Faze Kay, and Haliey “Hawk Tuah Woman” Welch.
Denino reportedly emptied out the liquidity pool of his memecoin two weeks after launch. He admitted to stealing the cash from traders, along with his whole loot standing at round $750,000.
Faze Kay was accused of selling a token referred to as Save the Children that crashed. Welch, whose memecoin HAWK misplaced 95% of its worth in minutes, nonetheless, was cleared by the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) of any wrongdoing, in keeping with her supervisor.
