For crypto investors, the worst thing they can do is “trust” a founder to deliver. Whenever millions are raised in an ICO or from private investors, what happens within the next few weeks or months can define how the project evolves. While some raise millions and actually solve a problem, quickly posting a 100X ROI, most don’t.
Some of the best cryptos to buy, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon, for example, have already rewarded early believers. Meanwhile, in Solana, less than 1% of all meme coins launched on top launchpads like Pump.fun die as soon as they are launched. The +99% of meme coin projects that die are often rug pulls. To put in the numbers, over $6Bn was lost to rug pulls in 2025 alone. A big chunk of this loss was due to the collapse of Mantra (OM) in April 2025.
BREAKING
Mantra $OM has plummeted 92% in the last 24 hours
Erasing $6 billion in market value
Traders speculate this could be one of the biggest “rug pulls” in recent history$OM yikes…. pic.twitter.com/K2cuCDouEU
— Lego (brick by brick) (@onchainlego) April 13, 2025
And earlier today, Trove, a project that raised millions on Hyperliquid, rugged investors, forcing the TROVE crypto to plummet by -95%.
DISCOVER: 9+ Best Memecoin to Buy in 2026
The TROVE Crypto Rug Pull On Hyperliquid: What Happened?
Trove marketed itself as a specialized Decentralized Exchange (DEX) built on Hyperliquid using the HIP-3 protocol. Their goal was to allow users to trade perpetual futures on illiquid “cultural assets” like Pokémon cards and luxury watches. To launch on Hyperliquid, the project was required to stake 500,000 HYPE as a security bond. Given their mission and promising roadmap, they found a partner to secure the bond. Additionally, within days, the community raised over $11M in an ICO, funding their integration and liquidity.
But, for investors, there were red flags even before this soft rug pull. During the ICO, the team briefly extended the sale deadline, then reversed it, leading to massive losses for traders on Polymarket who were betting on the final raise amount. It is worth noting that the Trove ICO was fully oversubscribed, meaning they had the maximum amount of “new” money in hand. There were claims that Trove insiders placed perfect bets on these sudden changes.
absolute crypto by Trove
> be Trove
> flex $1B testnet volume as marketing
> launch $2.5M ICO and get oversub 5x
> extend deadline by 5 days
> backlash from CT
> cancel the extension
> Trove intern locked in $70k on polymarket
roundtrip on polymarket
0.3c -> 85c -> 0c
— poezdec (@poesdec) January 12, 2026
Things were moving smoothly until January 19 when the team, without notice, said they were abandoning Hyperliquid and moving to Solana. The team claimed a “liquidity partner” withdrew the 500,000 HYPE needed for the stake. Investors were furious, as they had specifically invested in a Hyperliquid-native project. With this announcement, wallets linked to the Trove team began aggressively dumping their security bond. During this time, HYPE USDT fell from above $26 to spot rates. HYPE is still under pressure, extending losses of the past week to nearly -7%.
At press time, there has been no solid developments to explain the reason why Trove is changing camps.
Due to the move to Solana and the refund processing, we need more time to execute this correctly.
New TGE time: Jan 19, 4:00 PM UTC.
We sincerely apologize for the delay.
We’ll share the contract address and final distribution details once we are live.
— TROVE (@TroveMarkets) January 18, 2026
On X, they are asking for more time to refund investors. Other investigations reveal that the Trove team is sending ICO money to casinos and KOLs, without any plan for refunds.
Want to explain to the community why your team bridged $45K from the Trove Angel Round raise on Jan 11 and deposited it directly into a casino deposit address?
Source address
7nRNzRX2WQ3WxV3eV6gDeJeWTApqefuXNXQRZ1xEh1eh
Destination address… pic.twitter.com/6sdjiLo8GW
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) January 17, 2026
However, for investors who were expecting quick 10X gains, TROVE crypto ended up collapsing after launching on January 19.
(Source: HYPERDailyTK, X)
DISCOVER: 15+ Upcoming Coinbase Listings to Watch in 2026
The Coinbase Solution
Seems like rug pulls are part of crypto, and even due diligence won’t help. In September, HyperVault, a yield aggregator on Hyperliquid, suddenly drained nearly $4M of user deposits. Their website and social media also went dark immediately. Moments later, funds were bridged to Ethereum, swapped to ETH, and laundered through Tornado Cash.
Aware of risks, Coinbase launched a Token Sale platform in November. While its primary goal is to provide a compliant way for startups to raise capital, it is designed specifically to fix the rug pull and pump-and-dump issues that have plagued the industry for years.
Coinbase is acting as a gatekeeper. Every project seeking to raise funds must pass a rigorous audit and make public disclosures about its team, finances, and tokenomics before it is allowed to list. To prevent any rug pull, Coinbase has placed for tokens allocated to the team and affiliated insiders.
DISCOVER:
16+ New and Upcoming Binance Listings in 2026
99Bitcoins’ Q4 2025 State of Crypto Market Report
Follow 99Bitcoins on X For the Latest Market Updates and Subscribe on YouTube For Daily Expert Market Analysis.
The post Trove Crypto Rug Pull: Abandons Hyperliquid for Solana, TROVE USDT Drops -95% appeared first on 99Bitcoins.