A recent investigation in the cryptocurrency market indicates that, since the end of last year, a group of users known as 'degens', organized via Telegram, has been promoting pump-and-dump attacks on different blockchains. The strategy consists of inflating low-cap tokens to million-dollar values in a matter of minutes and then withdrawing all liquidity.
According to a report from CoinDesk, the forensic analysis was conducted by Solidus Lab and published in a report. The group, called PumpCell, mainly focuses its actions on Solana and the BNB Chain, having gained about $800,000 in profits just in the month of October.
The method used involves ultra-fast trading bots, such as Maestro and Banana Gun, which perform intense operations on newly created or launched tokens by the group itself. This artificial movement raises the currency's indicators, triggering automatic alert systems and attracting unsuspecting traders.
In sequence, the fraudsters reinforce the valuation by exploiting memes and popular cultural trends, increasing engagement around the tokens.
One identified case was that of the Zero token, created on Solana, which reached a market capitalization of US$ 2 million but collapsed less than an hour later. Solidus estimates that the group profited approximately US$ 800 thousand in October 2025.
To convert the gains, part of the wallets associated with the scheme sent funds to centralized exchanges, such as Binance. Others preferred 'over the counter' transactions, which involve direct exchanges of physical cash for on-chain values, making tracking difficult.
Finally, Solidus suggests that preventing this type of fraud involves integrating real-time analytics in AMMs, clustering wallet behaviors, and on-chain monitoring of financial flows.
