In 2024, Solana became the top platform for crypto scams known as rug pulls, earning a bad reputation for these schemes. According to Hacken, while other platforms like BNB Chain had fewer scams—dropping from almost 150 in 2023 to just 10 this year—Solana became a favorite for fraudsters, especially with meme coins.
Memecoins are cryptocurrencies created mainly for fun, often inspired by internet jokes, memes, or popular culture. They typically lack serious utility or purpose beyond serving as a novelty or speculative investment.
Despite their playful nature, some people purchase them in hopes that their value will increase. However, many memecoins fall victim to scams like rug pulls, where developers abscond with the money, leaving investors with worthless tokens. Notable examples include Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
This year, according to Hacken, scammers were attracted to Solana due to its low transaction fees, fast network, and tools like pump.fun, which simplified the creation of tokens. Over 4 million tokens were launched on Solana, setting the stage for rug pulls. More than 80% of these tokens ended up as rug pulls.
These scams operated by developers retaining most of a token’s supply while investors exchanged their $SOL for these tokens. Once enough $SOL was accumulated, the developers sold off their holdings, pocketing the money and leaving investors with worthless tokens. These scams unfolded rapidly, sometimes within minutes, highlighting the risks of speculative investments.
In April 2024, Hacken reported that 27 presale scams on Solana resulted in over $122.5 million being stolen. These scams lured investors with promises of future value, only for developers to vanish after collecting the funds. Celebrities exacerbated Solana’s scam issues by endorsing tokens that turned out to be rug pulls.
For instance, in December, Haliey Welch launched the HAWK token, which quickly soared to a market value of $490 million before plummeting by more than 90% within hours. Earlier in the year, Jason Derulo and Caitlyn Jenner promoted meme coins—JASON and JENNER—that rapidly lost most of their value, leaving investors facing significant losses.
Gaming and metaverse platforms hit by losses
Hacken observed that the gaming and metaverse sectors lost a significant amount due to cyberattacks. In total, $389 million—about 20% of all crypto hack losses—was stolen, primarily due to weaknesses in access controls.
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The largest incident was the PlayDapp hack in the first quarter, where attackers exploited the system to steal $290 million, making it the biggest hack in this sector that year. Additionally, two major attacks targeted the Blast L2 platform, which was gaining popularity during the same period.
These three hacks alone caused $358 million in losses, accounting for over 80% of the total losses in gaming and metaverse projects for 2024. The concentration of these hacks in the first quarter highlights the challenges these industries face in securing their systems, particularly newer platforms like Blast, which also suffered from issues such as rug pulls.
