Following the TRUMP meme coin’s $72 billion debut, the crypto market was hit with a flood of scams, as 6,800 fraudulent tokens and 91 fake dApps rapidly appeared, analysts say.
What starts with a surge of excitement can quickly turn into chaos. The launch of the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin in January not only captured the crypto community’s attention but also opened Pandora’s box as fraudsters eager to exploit the hype, overwhelming the market with fake tokens and harmful applications.
On Jan. 17, President Donald Trump debuted his meme coin marketed as a unique opportunity to express “support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs” embodied by the symbol TRUMP, according to the meme coin’s official website, which was also featured on Trump’s announcement on X.
Within just 48 hours of its release, TRUMP achieved a market cap of $72 billion, creating a “perfect storm for fraud,” analysts at Israel-headquartered blockchain forensic firm Blockaid say. However, this surge attracted not only speculators seeking to earn quick bucks but also malicious actors who sought to take advantage of the frenzy.
The blockchain firm revealed in a research report that scammers wasted no time in capitalizing on the buzz surrounding the token’s release. These malicious actors quickly flooded the market with fake tokens, hoping to deceive investors who were eager to jump on the bandwagon.
The report shows a 206% increase in tokens using the “Trump” name on the launch day, from 3,300 to 6,800 tokens. These scammers created numerous tokens that were designed to mimic the TRUMP meme coin, making it difficult for investors to distinguish legitimate assets from fraudulent ones.
A Blockaid spokesperson told crypto.news that scammers began making it “increasingly difficult for investors to distinguish between legitimate tokens and malicious ones.”
“[…] and this challenge is not unique to TRUMP. In almost every major web3 launch, our team sees how threat actors are creating projects that mimic the branding and excitement of the real tokens, creating confusion and exposing users to significant risks.”
Oz Tamir, the research and development lead at Blockaid
With the public eager to purchase TRUMP tokens, these fake assets were able to gain traction and even generate profit for the scammers behind them.
The same surge in interest was seen in malicious decentralized applications, which also saw a sharp increase following the launch. The day after the meme coin hit the market, impersonator dApps saw a 14x rise, Blockaid says, adding that more than 90 fake applications appeared in just 24 hours.
Blockaid’s report also notes that scammers didn’t stop with just the TRUMP token. Other tokens referencing members of the Trump family, such as “Melania” and “Barron,” surged by hundreds of per cent, too, giving the impression of a network of tokens tied to the Trump brand. These tokens helped create the “illusion of an interconnected ecosystem,” Blockaid says.
Tamir notes that the biggest spike in fake tokens “was noticeable on Solana, especially during this launch, given the prevalence of meme coins on the network.”
“That said, EVM networks like Ethereum have consistently been a hotspot for scams as well, including both fake tokens and malicious dApps targeting EVM users.”
Oz Tamir
As the excitement around high-profile launches grows, so does the opportunity for scammers to take advantage of unsuspecting users. Unfortunately, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, while empowering users, also opens the door for malicious actors to exploit the system.
In response to the surge in scam activity, Blockaid says it has been trying to prevent users from interacting with malicious tokens and fake dApps. Since the launch of the TRUMP token, the firm disclosed it has blocked hundreds of users from engaging with fraudulent assets.
