Memecoin mania hits Base: Obscure tokens skyrocket amid rug pulls and FOMO

1 year ago

Memecoin madness has arrived connected Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Base, bringing with it everything from singular shitcoin surges to classical token rug pulls.

On July 30, memecoin traders were snapping up a suite of questionable tokens connected Base, with 1 Brian Armstrong-themed memecoin dubbed “BALD” experiencing a 289,000% summation wrong the archetypal 14 hours of trading.

BALD terms illustration since inception. Source: DexScreener

This is contempt the Bald token not having immoderate authoritative website, oregon immoderate discernable purpose, creator, oregon utility.

According to information from blockchain analytics work Lookonchain, a tiny fig of investors managed to people a 100,000% instrumentality connected a comparatively tiny archetypal investment.

Four abstracted wallet addresses swapped 0.5 Ether (ETH) — worthy astir $950 astatine the clip — into BALD wrong the archetypal 4 minutes of trading. Eight hours later, the wallet addresses swapped their BALD into ETH for a full of 554 ETH which is worthy much than $1 cardinal astatine existent prices.

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 30, 2023

Another memecoin featuring the ticker BASED has besides gone connected an unthinkable rally, surging good implicit 1,000,000% successful the past 20 hours.

BASED all-time terms chart. Source: DexScreener

At current, BASED commands a whopping $1.39 cardinal fully-diluted marketplace cap, making it much invaluable — astatine slightest connected insubstantial — than mainstay blockchain networks Aave (AAVE) and Optimism (OP).

Rug pulls and memecoin gambling

However, arsenic galore concern professionals person stated successful the past, memecoins are notorious for their monolithic swings successful terms and immoderate concern successful them should beryllium treated arsenic gambling adjacent.

The abrupt influx of hundreds of new, un-backed tokens besides brings with it the imaginable information of scams, rug pulls and terrible fiscal losses.

One developer reportedly made disconnected with an undisclosed sum of ETH deposited by anxious investors, promising to instrumentality it aft they had multiplied their funds.

OMG immoderate presale connected Base conscionable rugged and dev sent a full ass apology missive pic.twitter.com/rcmMcP7F7i

— punished echo (@OHEXE_ECHO) July 30, 2023

“You volition get your ETH back. I conscionable request to multiply it,” the developer wrote upon deleting their Telegram account.

Meanwhile, others person warned that the memecoin surge is apt already over.

Pseudonymous nonrecreational trader “Horse” informed his 180,000 followers that FOMO buying into tokens specified arsenic BALD astatine this precocious signifier would astir apt beryllium a atrocious idea.

You are not aboriginal to $BALD if you are not already up.

The marketplace is leap frogging from 1 happening to the adjacent close now.

Don’t beryllium someone’s exit liquidity connected this good Sunday.

— HORSE (@TheFlowHorse) July 30, 2023

Related: UFO hearing: Crypto degens spare nary clip crafting 50 alien shitcoins

Coinbase launched the Base web for developers connected July 13, arsenic such, trading connected Base remains comparatively technical.

Interacting with tokens connected the Base web requires investors to nonstop their ETH to a Coinbase developer declaration code and past swap that ETH into the token of their prime connected a specialized decentralized speech specified arsenic LeetSwap.

Notably, Base users are incapable to span their tokens disconnected the network. Once ETH is deposited connected the network, it cannot beryllium transferred backmost to different usable concatenation similar Ethereum until Base developers present a token bridge.

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