The rise and fall of SafeMoon, in five dates.
March 2021: SafeMoon launches on BNB Chain with a 10% tax on every transfer. Half is "reflected" to holders, half goes to a liquidity pool the team says is locked. The pitch was simple: just hold and get paid.
March 12 to April 20, 2021: the price rises more than 55,000% per the SEC. In the months after launch it passes one million holders and a market cap above $8 billion at its peak, per the DOJ.
April 20, 2021: people learn the liquidity is not actually locked, and the price drops almost 50% in a day.
November 1, 2023: the DOJ and SEC charge the CEO, the founder and the former CTO. Prosecutors say insiders drained the "locked" pool to buy sports cars and homes. SafeMoon US files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on December 14, 2023.
February 10, 2026: CEO Braden Karony is sentenced to 100 months in prison after a May 2025 jury conviction. The founder, Kyle Nagy, is still at large.
The lesson: "locked liquidity" is only a claim until you can check it on-chain yourself. A token that pays you just for holding is usually paying you with someone else's money.
$BNB #CryptoHistory #SafeMoon #CryptoLessons #RugPull
Not financial advice.
March 2021: SafeMoon launches on BNB Chain with a 10% tax on every transfer. Half is "reflected" to holders, half goes to a liquidity pool the team says is locked. The pitch was simple: just hold and get paid.
March 12 to April 20, 2021: the price rises more than 55,000% per the SEC. In the months after launch it passes one million holders and a market cap above $8 billion at its peak, per the DOJ.
April 20, 2021: people learn the liquidity is not actually locked, and the price drops almost 50% in a day.
November 1, 2023: the DOJ and SEC charge the CEO, the founder and the former CTO. Prosecutors say insiders drained the "locked" pool to buy sports cars and homes. SafeMoon US files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on December 14, 2023.
February 10, 2026: CEO Braden Karony is sentenced to 100 months in prison after a May 2025 jury conviction. The founder, Kyle Nagy, is still at large.
The lesson: "locked liquidity" is only a claim until you can check it on-chain yourself. A token that pays you just for holding is usually paying you with someone else's money.
$BNB #CryptoHistory #SafeMoon #CryptoLessons #RugPull
Not financial advice.