"Chainalysis: 4.5% of 2024 Tokens Exhibit Pump-and-Dump Traits"

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has revealed that over 4.5% of all tokens launched in 2024 exhibited pump-and-dump traits. In a blog post published on January 29, the New York-based company reported that more than 3 million tokens were launched last year, with nearly 1.3 million (over 40%) listed on decentralized exchanges.

Despite the high number of tokens associated with pump-and-dump schemes, only a small fraction — just 1.7% — has been actively traded in the last 30 days. Chainalysis suggests that many tokens were abandoned shortly after creation, possibly due to lack of interest. The analysts also note that some of these tokens could have been part of short-lived schemes such as pump-and-dumps or rug pulls.

Chainalysis also found that nearly 90% of decentralized exchange pools suspected of being involved in pump-and-dump schemes were "rugged" by the address that created the DEX pool. The rest were rugged by addresses funded by the pool or token creator. In some cases, the pool creator and the address that rugged the pool seemed to be funded by the same source, suggesting a coordinated effort to exploit users.

The analysts point out that the wash trading volume across Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Coinbase's Base reached about $2.57 billion in 2024. However, the firm acknowledges using "different methodologies" to detect various types of wash trading.