A memecoin called 120 Hours was launched on the Solana platform, Pump.fun, by a terminally ill developer. The developer claimed to be dying and launched the memecoin to help his family after his passing, which was to be in 120 hours. However, as the coin hit a $534k peak, the developer immediately pulled the plug. He drained liquidity and subsequently erased his entire internet presence, vanishing without a trace.
Recalling the Events
Dying dev’s sob story ends in a Pump.fun rug pull: $120 memecoin hits $534K, liquidity drained, investors wiped.
Social media user @Evecoins shared in a post on X that the developer livestreamed on Pump.fun. The developer then launched the 120 hour memecoin and said he was dying. He told other traders in the community that trading fees would go to his family after his death. He also assured viewers and traders that he had no idea what a “rug pull” is. The developer then systematically drained the project’s liquidity pool before disappearing entirely, causing the token to lose all market value.
What is a Rug Pull in Cryptocurrency
Rug pulls are a crypto scam where cryptocurrency or NFT developers attract investor money only to suddenly abandon a project after withdrawing all funds from a project’s liquidity pool.. The action leaves investors unable to sell their tokens as values collapse to zero. The term comes from the phrase “pulling the rug out from under someone.” Rug pulls can happen in various forms, including liquidity pulls, pump and dump schemes, and fake project abandonment.
Rug pulls are categorized as either hard or soft. Hard rug pulls involve scamming investors with no intention of seeing a project to completion. Soft rug pulls happen gradually over time to avoid detection and rely on marketing to gain investor interest. Bad actors will leverage different strategies to scam as many victims as they can, cleverly orchestrating scams. Scams will use doctored figures or promise exorbitantly high returns on their investment to gain users’ trust.
The Developer’s Deceptive Claims
The developer conned investors by saying that he would be dying in 120 hours. In his project bio he wrote: “I have approximately 120 hours to live, all the fees will go to my family after I pass. I will be live until then.” According to social media user @Evecoins, the developer has promised all trading fees would support their family after death.
The scammer also claimed they had no idea what a rug pull was, however, this would later turn out to be feigned ignorance. This tactic was probably used to legitimize the project and gain trustworthiness from unsuspecting victims.
Pump.fun Platform Overview
In January 2024, Pump.fun was launched as a Solana-based memecoin launchpad. The platform allows anyone to create and trade tokens with minimal technical expertise and equipment required. It also permits you to create a coin with no presales. It was founded by entrepreneurs Noah Tweedale, Alon Cohen, and Dylan Kerle.
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Pump.fun’s Success
From its inception Pump.fun has quickly grown, generating significant revenue through trading fees and bonding curves. Pump.fun has earned approximately $850 million in total fees, according to Dune, an on-chain analytics platform. In early 2025, the platform was generating close to $50 million a month in fees.
Pump.fun’s success stems from its simplicity, accessibility and viral social features. Users can easily launch memecoins and share them across social media platforms. The platform includes livestreaming capabilities to promote new token launches. Meme culture also bolsters the platform’s visibility.
How the Scam Unfolded
The 120 Hours token initially appeared legitimate and gained investor interest. At the memecoins’ peak, data from Pump.fun showed giveaway market capitalization at about $534,300. Community members began sharing the token across social media platforms. After the 120 hours was up, the project was dumped, and then a rapid loss of the liquidity pool was observed. Their social media accounts vanished along with investor funds.
Platform Statistics and Success Rates
Usage metrics from Dune confirmed tens of millions of users had interactions mid-2025. However, Pump.fun’s statistics reveal that only a fraction of their coins actually reach some form of success. This means that the coin “graduated”, leaving the bonding curve and gaining liquidity. In August 2025 alone, 604,162 tokens launched on the platform. Only 4,510 tokens successfully “graduated” to full trading status which is only a 0.75% success rate. This year has only seen graduation rates at 2% with most coins failing to sustain themselves after launch.
Financial Impact and Losses
Pump.fun’s ease of access to creating memecoins and relaxed regulation has allowed many scams of this nature to happen. Research reveals approximately 60% of wallet addresses operate at a loss. Over 1,700 addresses suffered losses exceeding $100,000 each. Another 46 wallet addresses reported losses above $1 million. Very few wallets actually see any profits, and most wallets are completely devalued when a coin crashes.
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