Dubai-based Indian memecoin creator, Sahil Arora, known as memecoin rug pull schemes probably the most profitable alternative in an interview with the New York Publish. In accordance with the Might 17 article, Arora, who boasts of incomes hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from over 100 memecoin rug pulls, mentioned:
“The best solution to become profitable 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, dangerous actors create a nugatory memecoin, use false or paid endorsements to advertise, and promote it as quickly as the worth goes up. The creators normally management a big portion of the tokens, and promoting off the pile causes the worth to crash.
Due to this fact, buyers bear the losses whereas the creator makes off with hundreds of 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 known as a “tremendous villain,” overtly advised the Publish that rug pulling is the “greatest on line casino on Earth proper now.”
Veteran crypto investor Kyle Chassé advised the Publish:
“…a minimum of within the on line casino, you realize that possibly 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:
“If you happen to 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 monitor file of some success slightly than getting rugged by a random individual 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 referred to as 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 marketing consultant Cryptony advised the Publish that the worth of memecoins like Brocolli solely goes up due to massive demand after endorsements or promotions. He added:
“[In rug pulls] The wealthy get richer. For one individual to become profitable, one other individual has to lose cash. That’s the place it comes from.”
Arora is one among 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 Lady” Welch.
Denino reportedly emptied out the liquidity pool of his memecoin two weeks after launch. He admitted to stealing the cash from buyers, together with his whole loot standing at round $750,000.
Faze Kay was accused of selling a token known as Save the Youngsters that crashed. Welch, whose memecoin HAWK misplaced 95% of its worth in minutes, nevertheless, was cleared by the U.S. Securities and Change Fee (SEC) of any wrongdoing, in response to her supervisor.
