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Blockchain security firm Blockaid said that 59% of crypto tokens introduced this year were “malicious in nature.”
The number of nefarious tokens being sold on the open market relates to the growing memecoin narrative that has been consistent throughout this cycle.
There are now 10 memecoins with a market cap of $1 billion or more and this relative success has led to the launch of copycat tokens on Ethereum, Base and Solana, among other chains.
Carpet-pulling scams remain a prevalent threat and account for 27% of malicious tokens, Blockaid said.
However, it is worth noting that the amount lost due to cryptocurrency hacks and scams dropped drastically. The FBI said that in 2023, $5.6 billion was lost due to crypto scams, while this year the total is $1.4 billion, according to the Blockaid report.
Blockaid data comes 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.
