A quick-thinking memecoin trader managed to turn an initial investment of just 2 Solana tokens (worth approximately $460) into nearly $1 million in only three hours. This impressive return on investment was secured despite the coin in question being revealed as a ‘rug pull’ – a scam whereby developers abandon a project and abscond with invested funds. The incident was reported by onchain intelligence firm Lookonchain, shedding light on the volatile world of memecoin trading.
Acting in a short time period, the trader invested in the Gen Z Quant (QUANT) memecoin, a token launched through Solana’s memecoin launchpad, Pump.fun. Not long after the investment, QUANT was exposed as a fraudulent cryptocurrency. Nonetheless, the trader had already managed to offload part of his QUANT stock, making a substantial profit.
Although memecoins typically lack underlying utility and are known for their volatility, they remain popular among some traders looking for high-risk, high-reward investments. There are multiple instances of such trading turning quick profits in the past. Earlier this year, a trader made a staggering $46 million from a $3000 investment in frog-themed Pepe memecoins.
The QUANT memecoin was launched by an anonymous developer going by the handle “Fi2h” on November 20. According to Lookonchain, the scheme was exposed when a teenager live-streamed himself selling all his QUANT tokens, netting a tidy sum of 128 Solana tokens (worth around $30K).
Remarkably, the trader’s success and the live-streamed exposure of the scam did not prevent the QUANT memecoin from continuing to gain value. The memecoin community rallied around the token, even after the scam was revealed, and its market value rose to a high of over $1 million, according to data from GeckoTerminal.