Dubai-based Indian memecoin creator, Sahil Arora, called memecoin rug pull schemes the most lucrative opportunity in an interview with the New York Post. According to the May 17 article, Arora, who boasts of earning millions of dollars from over 100 memecoin rug pulls, said:
“The easiest way to make money is to deploy a meme coin, run it, and then sell as soon as you see [profits].”
In rug pulls or pump-and-dump schemes, bad actors create a worthless memecoin, use false or paid endorsements to promote it, and sell it as soon as the price goes up. The creators usually control a large portion of the tokens, and selling off the pile causes the price to crash.
Therefore, investors bear the losses while the creator makes off with millions. In August 2024, crypto sleuth ZachXBT estimated that Arora earned between $2 million and $3 million through memecoin scams.
Last year, Arora told The Defiant that it “took a lotta brain pulling that [rug pulls] off.” Arora, who is proud to have been called a “super villain,” brazenly told the Post that rug pulling is the “biggest casino on Earth right now.”
Veteran crypto investor Kyle Chassé told the Post:
“…at least in the casino, you know that maybe 60 percent of the time the house wins. In this [crypto] casino, the house is going to win 99 percent of the time.”
Arora added:
“If you don’t get rugged by me, you’re probably going to get rugged by someone else. So, you might as well get rugged by a person with a track record of some success rather than getting rugged by a random person on the Internet.”
Arora continues to carry out memecoin rug pulls
Last year, several celebrities accused Arora of using memecoins connected to them to orchestrate and pull off pump-and-dump scams. This included former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, Dimitri Leslie Roger, an American rapper known as Rich the Kid, and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.
Despite the accusations and Arora’s non-denial of involvement, he managed to pull off more rug pulls. In February 2025, Arora, who portrays a lavish lifestyle from money earned through rug pulls, launched the token BROCCOLI, an ode to former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ’s) dog, using the same wallet he used to launch Jenner’s official memecoin in 2024. Arora told Decrypt that he made $6.5 million by dumping Brocolli tokens.
Pseudonymous crypto consultant Cryptony told the Post that the price of memecoins like Brocolli only goes up because of large demand after endorsements or promotions. He added:
“[In rug pulls] The rich get richer. For one person to make money, another person has to lose money. That’s where it comes from.”
Arora is one of many
Several influencers have been accused of promoting memecoins that crash in value. This includes YouTuber Paul “Ice Poseidon” Denino, Faze Kay, and Haliey “Hawk Tuah Girl” Welch.
Denino reportedly emptied out the liquidity pool of his memecoin two weeks after launch. He admitted to stealing the money from investors, with his total loot standing at around $750,000.
Faze Kay was accused of promoting a token called Save the Kids that crashed. Welch, whose memecoin HAWK lost 95% of its value in minutes, however, was cleared by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of any wrongdoing, according to her manager.
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