Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the increase in crypto scams and amount lost during 2025.
Almost $6 Billion Lost to Scams in 2025
During the year 2025 so far losses attributed to rugpulls have accounted for almost $6 billion in losses. A recent report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar has shown that while there has been a decline in the frequency of 'Rug Pull' incidents, with only seven occurrences in 2025 compared to 21 in early 2024, the overall suffered financial losses has increased. The almost $6 billion has seen a whopping 92% of those associated with the collapse of Mantra's OM token, even though its founder denies it being a 'Rug Pull'. The same period for 2024 sat at $90 million, marking a staggering 6,499% surge .
Analyst at DappRadar Sara Gherghelas has highlighted that the destructive impact of these events has intensified as scams have become more sophisticated and often orchestrated by professional teams. She believes the nature of these incidents are evolving and during the first quarter of 2024 they were mainly originating from DeFi protocols, NFT projects, and meme coins. In 2025 they have been predominantly occurring in the meme coin sector.
Gherghelas also wared of potential indicators of 'Rug Pulls' such as a sudden surge in the number of active wallets, high transaction volumes with low user activity, unverified smart contracts, limited GitHub activity, anonymous developer teams, or projects experiencing abrupt growth. All of these signs could be considered a red flag for investors and participants in the Web3 ecosystem.
Looking at Mantra Network’s activity patterns can help to identify these signs of concern. Gherghelas noted that the platform’s all-time high in Unique Active Wallets peaked at just 64 in December 2024, with daily interactions typically ranging from 1 to 11. She stated there were multiple days when there was no activity at all and this inconsistency indicates low traction and could serve as a warning sign for projects claiming growth or adoption. Gherghelas pointed out that such irregular patterns often suggest “inorganic engagement,” a tactic sometimes used to manipulate a project’s appearance of activity.
Mantra’s contract data on PolygonScan also revealed concerning wallet distributions or centralisation patterns, often precursors to liquidity withdrawals and insider dumping. Its lack of verified smart contracts and open GitHub repositories further clouded the project’s legitimacy.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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