An exit scam in crypto happens when the project creators take the investor’s money and disappear. They build hype, collect investments, and then vanish with the funds overnight. It’s one of the oldest and nastiest cons in crypto.
Here’s how it usually goes down. A project team starts a new token/coin or platform with rosy promises such as groundbreaking technology, guaranteed whopping returns, or the next Bitcoin. They use social media, pay influencers to talk about it, and create fake hype.
Investors put their money in. The token price shoots up. Everything looks legit. Then boom—the developers drain the liquidity pools, nuke their social media accounts, and kill the website. Your tokens turn worthless. The money’s gone.
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Some exit scams get fancy. Squid Game token rode the Netflix show’s hype in 2021, rocketed up thousands of percent, and then the creators bailed with roughly $3 million. Investors couldn’t even sell because of sneaky code restrictions.
Others keep it simple. Anonymous teams launch coins on decentralized exchanges, pump the price through coordinated buying, then dump everything and run.
What are the aspects that highlight the red flags? Anonymous teams, no actual product to verify, promises of very high returns, and a lot of pressure to invest fast. Real projects have transparent teams, clear use cases, and audited smart contracts.
The brutal reality? Once scammers exit, your money’s probably gone forever. Crypto’s setup means no bank reverses anything and no insurance bails you out. Police struggle to chase anonymous criminals across borders. Your best protection? Stay skeptical and do homework before throwing money at any project.