The URF meme coin team recently pulled a rug on investors, disappearing with 2,400 SOL collected during the coin’s presale. According to on-chain researcher ZachXBT, the team withdrew Solana (SOL) worth about $450,000.

Influencer BryceHall promoted the sketchy Solana presale for URF, helping them raise approximately 2400 SOL ($450k). However, the team vanished less than 24 hours after the launch, with their social media accounts showing zero activity since March 26.

The developers not only committed fraud shortly after the launch but also used the raised funds to trade other meme tokens on Solana. ZachXBT noted that Bryce Hall, who initially supported the project, has since distanced himself from the unreliable cryptocurrency.

Previously, ZachXBT estimated that from March 12 to March 20, 33 presales of tokens worth around $149 million took place on the Solana blockchain. Several fraud cases were identified, with total losses of approximately $4.4 million.

Some industry experts have criticized the meme coin boom, expressing concerns about a potential bubble burst. Ki Yoon Joo, Founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, stated that such projects could harm the crypto industry, drawing parallels to the ICO mania of 2018.

On the other hand, Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin advised not to be biased towards meme coins, suggesting that these assets could offer new qualities of usefulness.

For more insights like this, check out CoinGecko’s report on meme coin narratives gaining 1,313% during Q1.