Unveiling the Early Experiences of a Certain Crypto Assets Platform and Its Mysterious Founder

A global platform for creating meme coins allows anyone to easily issue their own Crypto Assets. However, one of the platform's co-founders seems to have profited years ago by issuing and selling his own coin.

According to the investigation, a person with the same name issued eight tokens in 2017. Two of these tokens saw a price crash after attracting attention on encryption forums, with investors accusing the developers of orchestrating a exit scam.

A blockchain security company analysis indicates that this developer earned approximately $75,000 in Crypto Assets from the sale of just two coins in 2017 — estimated to be worth around $400,000 at today's coin price.

"They are waiting for the market share and price to rise before quickly cashing out and exiting." said the Chief Security Officer of the security company, "We strongly suspect that one of the tokens is designed as a tool for running away."

The purpose of this platform, according to its co-founder, is to protect investors from unethical behavior through the standardization of token issuance. However, evidence suggests that this co-founder may have been the type of developer that the platform was trying to guard against in the early stages.

As of the time of writing, neither the platform nor the co-founder has responded to multiple requests for comments.

The Rise of the Platform and Its Mysterious Founder

The platform was founded in January 2024 by three entrepreneurs in their twenties and quickly became the preferred incubation and trading venue for meme coins.

This type of Crypto Assets is highly volatile, primarily created for speculation. According to statistics, within just 15 months, the platform has generated over $600 million through a 1% trading commission.

The three co-founders rarely disclose their identities, locations, or company structure. One of them stated in an interview last year that this anonymity is for "personal safety" considerations, to prevent the enormous Crypto Assets managed by the platform from attracting extortion or attacks.

Among the three, there is the least public information available about this co-founder. Aside from being listed as a director in the UK Companies House documents, he has almost no public association with the platform. Another co-founder has stated that he is responsible for leading the development team in writing the platform's code and functionality iterations. Apart from one social media account, his online footprint is nearly zero.

However, a series of "digital clues" left on multiple network platforms still link this name to the suspected exit scams of two early coins.

Digital Footprints: Tracing Early Token Promotion

In 2017, the two tokens were initially promoted by two accounts on a crypto forum, both belonging to the same user. According to a forum post, after one of the accounts "was suspected to be hacked", the user began to communicate with investors under a different identity.

In a promotional post, the user provided an email address containing the name of the co-founder, referring to it as "personal email"; while in another thread, several forum users directly referred to him as the developer of the project.

At the same time, multiple clues indicate that the co-founder was in the same area as the developers of these two tokens - the latter had stated in an old chat group that they were located in Brighton, UK.

Voter registration records show that this co-founder was still registered at an address in the Brighton and Hove area of the UK at least in 2024. When reporters visited the address, a resident who responded through the intercom refused to disclose their identity but stated that they "no longer live here," indirectly confirming the accuracy of the voter registration.

The company registration documents show that a physical company under this platform was registered at the same property located in Brighton and Hove. This address is also shared by two other companies, both of which list a 62-year-old individual as a director. Furthermore, this individual is also registered as a voter at this address.

Aliases and Associations: More Identity Clues

This co-founder seems to have used another surname as an alias, which is the same as the aforementioned 62-year-old individual, suggesting that there may be a familial relationship between the two.

Until recently, a GitHub account still retained an old code repository that contained a Gmail email named after that alias; the avatar used for that email also appeared on accounts on other social platforms.

One of the YouTube accounts uploaded a video about a certain Crypto Asset. Although the project was created by someone else, its project logo also appeared in the aforementioned forum account, which can be seen as an indirect clue that both originated from the same person.

Another YouTube account has published a video about the "Equis" project, which promotes itself with the slogan "Revolutionizing the Gambling Industry". Equis is also promoted by the aforementioned forum account, and its code is completely identical to those two early tokens. ( The project did not spark investor interest on the forum ).

In summary, both names used by this co-founder can be traced back to the relevant accounts that promoted those two early coins on the forum.

ICO Bubble and Early Exit Models

The two tokens were launched during the peak of the ICO boom. During that time, hundreds of token projects raised billions of dollars from investors through the ICO model. ICOs became widely popular among crypto startups because they did not require dilution of equity.

Conducting an ICO usually involves a three-step process: deploying a contract on the Ethereum network to mint coins, articulating the project vision on the official website, and raising investments externally. Some analyses state: "Many projects are just a white paper and a website with a countdown timer - the barriers to entry are extremely low."

Analysts point out that although some projects funded through ICOs, such as Ethereum (, are still operational, most ICOs are manipulated, exaggerated, or even completely fraudulent, ultimately leading to tighter regulations. Many developers exaggerate the uses of their projects, manipulate prices to create hype, and even fabricate return rates.

"Developers are aggressively promoting the fantasy of high returns," said a research analyst from a blockchain analysis company, "which is precisely the source of FOMO psychology."

The hype of the ICO craze has caused many gullible investors to pursue profits with little due diligence, a phenomenon that is very similar to today's investment behavior in suspicious meme coins. "There are many similarities between the meme craze and ICOs," the analyst pointed out, "it's very easy to sell a story to the public and then quickly harvest."

![Unveiling Pump.Fun and its mysterious founder, with a history of Rug Pull?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-7782bcb4f3ae3940279dd83eff8c1144.webp(

The Boom and Bust of a Certain Early Token

In early October 2017, this developer began promoting its most popular coin.

He followed the previous standard script: minting tokens on Ethereum, building a website, and promoting on forums and social media. To create hype, they distributed tokens for free through so-called "airdrops" and promised to release a white paper. At that time, the white paper was seen as a symbol of legitimacy and could potentially drive up prices.

Analysts point out: "The release of the white paper can greatly enhance attractiveness. Even just the promise of a release is enough to stir market sentiment."

The screenshots of the project that have been circulated on social media reveal how it promotes itself to potential investors. The page claims: "We are committed to making the transition from fiat to Crypto Assets as smooth as possible, while still maintaining an atmosphere of integrity and high-end quality." At the bottom of the page, there is also an image of a card that claims to be usable for physical consumption of the token.

In just a few days, hundreds of people have registered to participate in the airdrop of this token. Meanwhile, discussions on the forum are lively. One user wrote: "Let's spread the word and get more people to notice this outstanding token." As of October 19, the market value of the token has risen to approximately $1.3 million.

But just as early investors were filled with anticipation, the developers began to secretly offload.

Blockchain security company analysis shows that developers distribute millions of tokens to wallets under their control a few days after the token creation. One of these wallets was subsequently used to sell a large amount of tokens to the market.

Between October 19 and 21, the wallet sold hundreds of batches of tokens on the peer-to-peer trading platform. These sales coincided with a catastrophic drop in the price of the asset, which fell by 87.9%.

![Unveiling Pump.Fun and its mysterious founder, does it have a history of Rug Pull?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-5743422942d38d7ec1880d3a5977f740.webp(

Panic began to spread on social media. One user, probably trying to find some humor in the situation, started referring to the token as "ECRASH." Others accused the developers of being fully responsible. Another user who participated in the airdrop stated: "Everyone is very angry. I think this is the first time I have experienced a rug pull."

The highly anticipated white paper has never appeared, and ultimately, the developer has disappeared from forum posts and social groups. Just a few days ago, he wrote: "I can assure everyone that the project is making significant progress."

In three transactions on October 20 and 21, the developer's wallet withdrew a total of 240 Ethereum earnings from the trading platform—equivalent to about $75,000 at the time. After each withdrawal, these Ethereum were immediately transferred to another wallet address, and then dispersed into three wallets. Eventually, these Ethereum were transferred to multiple centralized trading platform accounts—these platforms are typically used to exchange Crypto Assets for fiat currency.

The investigation identified at least 20 wallets used by the developer. These wallets were used to issue, airdrop, or sell tokens, or to transfer related income to centralized trading platforms.

"The effect of this layered processing is to obscure the flow of funds," the analyst said, "If you have nothing to hide, there is actually no need to do this. It is itself very suspicious."

Despite some investors still harboring fantasies about its return—on October 24, someone jokingly said, "I smell the scent of the white paper"—all signs have long indicated the final outcome.

In a forum post at the beginning of October, the developer wrote: "This will be like a pump and dump, early investors will be able to recoup their costs. I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's just the way it is."

![Unveiling Pump.Fun and its mysterious founder, is there a history of Rug Pull?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-c3ecb710575df07b306040eab56fc2c7.webp(

Faster than creating wealth is forgetting.

As of today, the platform's surge has not yet stopped. According to statistics, its daily revenue reaches up to 1 million dollars. The founders' wealth has skyrocketed, far surpassing the early projects of that year. While this "wealth creation machine" continues to operate, the behavior of absconding, which goes against its original intention, is still ongoing, with almost no one paying attention.

Last November, a teenager started a live stream on the platform and created and sold a token in just a few minutes, netting $30,000. He shouted "Holy fuck! Holy fuck!" while giving the camera the middle finger—this moment may truly be the epitome of this era.

![Unveiling Pump.Fun and its mysterious founder, is there a history of Rug Pull?])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-419c62fc821a89955c08fbabada47bad.webp(