There has been a 66% year-on-year decrease in the number of crypto rug pulls this year compared to 2024, but recent data shows the size of each rug pull has been increasing.

Rug pulls have dropped in frequency year-over-year, with early 2024 recording 21 separate incidents, compared to only seven so far in 2025, according to an April 16 report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar.

However, since the beginning of 2025, the Web3 ecosystem has lost nearly $6 billion to rug pulls, according to DappRadar’s report. However, the report attributes 92% of that to Mantra’s OM token collapse, which the founders have strongly denied was a rug pull.

In comparison, during the same period in early 2024, three months into the year, total losses from rug pulls hit $90 million.

“This shift suggests that rug pulls are becoming less frequent, but far more devastating when they do occur,” DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas said. 

“The scams are increasingly sophisticated, often orchestrated by teams with polished branding and well-planned narratives.”

Memecoins main culprit for rug pulls 

Gherghelas says the nature of rug pulls is evolving. In the first quarter of 2024, most originated in DeFi protocols, NFT projects, and memecoins. In the same time frame for 2025, most rug pulls occurred in memecoins.

Libertad project’s native Solana token, Libra (LIBRA), is one of the more recent high-profile cases of a rug pull; it rallied to a market capitalization of $4.56 billion on Feb. 14 after Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, posted about it on X.

The token then fell by over 94% after he deleted the post, prompting accusations of a pump-and-dump scheme. 

“Rug pulls and exit scams remain a persistent threat, especially in ecosystems where projects can rapidly gain traction through hype, only to disappear with user funds overnight,” Gherghelas said.

“Despite increasing awareness and more tools to detect suspicious behavior, rug pulls remain a recurring issue, particularly in DeFi and newly launched token ecosystems.”

Gherghelas says red flags for rug pulls can include a sudden spike in unique active wallets without an apparent reason or unusually high volume paired with low user activity.

DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas says several red flags could signal a project is a rug pull. Source: DappRadar

At the same time, projects with unverified smart contracts, limited GitHub activity, or anonymous developer teams or DApps that spike overnight can also be a red flag.

Related: Savvy memecoin trader makes $988K in 3 hours despite rug pull

“As the industry matures, so do the tactics used by bad actors. But the tools available to users are also getting stronger,” Gherghelas said.

“While rug pulls may never be fully eradicated, their impact can be drastically reduced when users are equipped with the right information.”  

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The Synthetix protocol’s native stablecoin, Synthetix USD (SUSD), has slipped further away from its US dollar peg, reaching new all-time lows under $0.70. 

However, the firm reiterates that this isn’t the first time the asset has been under significant stress, and several risk measures are in place.

“Synthetix and sUSD have weathered multiple bear markets and periods of stablecoin volatility; this is not the first resilience test,” a spokesperson from Synthetix told Cointelegraph.

SUSD down almost 31% from its intended 1:1 peg

sUSD is a crypto-collateralized stablecoin. Users lock up SNX tokens to mint sUSD, making its stability highly dependent on the market value of Synthetix (SNX). 

At the time of publication, sUSD (SUSD) is trading at $0.70, 30% below its intended 1:1 peg with the US dollar, according to CoinMarketCap data.

sUSD reached as low as $0.66 before rebounding to $0.70 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCap

During the same period, SNX has held relatively steady, dipping just 1.08% over the past week, trading at $0.63. However, from a broader view of the overall crypto market downturn, SNX has fallen approximately 26% over the past 30 days.

The spokesperson explained that sUSD’s short-term volatility is driven by “structural shifts” after the SIP-420 launch, a proposal that shifts debt risk from stakers to the protocol itself. 

They explained that the firm has short, medium, and long-term plans to mitigate the risks.

In the short term, Synthetix said it will continue supporting liquidity for sUSD through Curve pools and deposit campaigns on its derivatives platform, Infinex.

For mid-term measures, Synthetix has introduced “simple debt-free” SNX staking that it says will “encourage individual debt repayment.”

Over the long term, the firm says it will make capital efficiency changes through the 420 Pool, take over protocol-level management of sUSD supply, and introduce new “adoption-focused mechanisms” across Synthetix products.

Related: Crypto in a bear market, rebound likely in Q3 — Coinbase

Synthetix founder Kain Warwick explained on April 2 that the volatility is largely due to the primary driver of sUSD buying having been removed. “New mechanisms are being introduced, but in this transition, there will be some volatility,” Warwick said in an X post.

“It is worth pointing out that sUSD is not an algo stable, it is a pure crypto collateralized stable, the peg can and does drift, but there are mechanisms to push it back in line if it goes above or below the peg,” he added.

On April 10, Cointelegraph reported that the asset has faced persistent instability since the start of 2025. On Jan. 1, sUSD dropped to $0.96 and only rebounded to $0.99 in early February. Prices continued to fluctuate through February before stabilizing in March. 

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin’s relatively stable price movements despite macroeconomic uncertainty is likely due to resilient spot Bitcoin ETF holders and Michael Saylor’s firm continuing to buy aggressively, according to a Bloomberg analyst.

“The ETFs and Saylor have been buying up all ‘dumps’ from the tourists, FTX refugees, GBTC discounters, legal unlocks, govt confiscations and Lord knows who else,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in an April 16 X post.

Bitcoin ETF holders hold despite market volatility

Balchunas pointed out that spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs have attracted $131.04 million over the past 30 days and are up $2.4 billion since Jan. 1. Balchunas called this “impressive,” noting it helps explain why Bitcoin has “been relatively stable.”

“Its owners are more stable,” Balchunas said. Balchunas said Bitcoin ETF investors have “much stronger hands than most people think.” He said this “should” increase the stability and lower Bitcoin’s volatility and correlation in the long term. 

As of April 16, Bitcoin ETFs saw a total of $131.04 million in inflows over the past 30 days. Source: Eric Balchunas

Saylor’s firm, Strategy, made its latest Bitcoin purchase on April 14, acquiring 3,459 BTC for $285.5 million at an average price of $82,618 per coin. According to Saylor Tracker, Strategy holds 531,644 Bitcoin at the time of publication.

The Bitcoin Volatility Index, which measures Bitcoin’s volatility over the previous 30 days, is at 1.80% at the time of publication, according to Bitbo data. At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $84,610, according to CoinMarketCap data. 

Over the past 30 days, Bitcoin has traded between $75,000 and $88,000 amid macroeconomic uncertainty primarily driven by US President Donald Trump’s imposed tariffs and ongoing questions about the future of US interest rates. 

Despite this, Bitcoin has remained above its previous all-time high of $73,679, first surpassed in November.

Bitcoin is trading at $84,610 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCap

Participants in the broader financial market have also expressed surprise at Bitcoin’s relative strength in recent times, particularly in comparison to the S&P 500.

Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers on April 5, after Trump’s “Liberation Day,” that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.