More Than Half of Crypto Tokens, Memecoins Launched in 2024 Were Malicious: Blockaid

EMBARGOED UNTIL 19 DECEMBER 2024 @ 9:00 AM ET

Blockchain security firm Blockaid said a full 59% of crypto tokens introduced this year were “malicious in nature.”

The number of nefarious tokens being sold into the open market ties in with the rising memecoin narrative that has been consistent throughout this cycle.

There are now 10 memecoins with a market cap of $1 billion or greater and this relative success has led to copycat tokens being launched on Ethereum, Base and Solana among other chains.

Rug-pull scams remain a prevalent threat, making up 27% of malicious tokens, Blockaid said.

It’s worth noting, however, that the amount lost to cryptocurrency hacks and scams shrank dramatically. The FBI said that in 2023, $5.6 billion was lost to crypto scams, while this year the total is $1.4 billion, according to Blockaid’s report.

Blockaid’s data stems from an on-chain detection and response (ODR) platform that processed 2.41 billion transactions, 780 million dapp connections, and 220 million tokens in 2024.