12-Year-Old Attempts Memecoin Rug Pull, Crypto Community Turns It Into $80M Token

A 12-year-old crypto trader’s attempt to rug-pull a Solana-based memecoin backfired spectacularly, as the crypto community rallied to elevate the token’s value to a staggering $80 million market cap.

The Incident: A Solana Memecoin Rug-Pull Gone Viral

The young trader, active on X (formerly Twitter), launched a memecoin called Gen Z Quant (QUANT) on the Solana-based launchpad Pump.fun. After the token’s price began to rise, he sold 51 million QUANT tokens on a live stream, pocketing 128 SOL (~$30,000) in a matter of minutes.

While the trader ended his stream, assuming the rug pull was complete, the crypto community stepped in to “teach him a lesson.” They collectively boosted the token’s price by over 77,000%, pushing its market capitalization to $82.3 million at its peak. Ironically, had the young trader held onto his tokens, his profits could have ballooned to $4 million within hours.

Community Reactions: A Lesson in Memecoin Chaos

The event sparked debates within the crypto community. Some viewed the collective effort as a “lesson” for rug-pull scammers, while others questioned the wisdom of investing in a project created by a 12-year-old. Despite its meteoric rise, the QUANT token’s rally eventually slowed, retracing by 57% to a current market cap of $35.11 million.

Aftermath: More Memecoins and Controversy

Following the QUANT incident, the young trader launched two more tokens, LUCY and SORRY, seemingly mocking the community’s reaction. He reportedly earned an additional 103 SOL (~$24,000) from these projects.

The incident also spawned several spin-off tokens and memes, with some targeting the trader and his family, whose personal information was doxxed online.

Notable Profits Amid the Chaos

Despite the rug pull, some traders profited handsomely. One lucky investor turned 2 SOL ($462) into $1 million in unrealized gains, selling part of his holdings for **116 SOL ($27,000)** while retaining tokens valued at $962,000 at the time.