Embargoed until December 19, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. ET
Blockchain security company BlockAid said that fully 59% of crypto tokens introduced this year are “malicious in nature.”
The number of nefarious tokens being sold to the public market is tied to the meme coin upswing story that has been consistent throughout this cycle.
There are currently 10 meme coins with market caps of $1 billion or more, and this relative success has led to the launch of copycat tokens on chains such as Ethereum, Base, and Solana.
Ragpull fraud remains a prevalent threat, accounting for 27% of malicious tokens, Blockaid said.
However, it is worth noting that the amount of losses due to crypto hacks and fraud has decreased dramatically. According to a report by Blockaid, the FBI announced that $5.6 billion was lost to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023, but this year the total was $1.4 billion.
Blockaid's data comes from its on-chain detection and response (ODR) platform, which processed 2.41 billion transactions, 780 million dapp connections, and 220 million tokens in 2024.
