A clandestine Telegram group of experienced “degens” is reportedly orchestrating meticulously planned, multi-chain pump-and-dump operations that can elevate micro-cap tokens to seven-figure values in mere minutes, reveals a recent investigation by Solidus Labs.
The faction, referred to as “PumpCell,” has been active since at least late 2024, focusing on manipulating new tokens across Solana and BNB Chain.
Solidus’ analysis indicates that the group is executing synchronized token launches, utilizing bots for rapid buying, crafting misleading hype campaigns, and timing exits to offload inflated tokens onto unsuspecting retail investors.
“To illustrate the scale of the issue: a single random channel with just a few dozen users from a small Southern European country… managed to net $800,000 in just one month from only a handful of pumped tokens that shortly thereafter plummeted to worthlessness,” stated Spyridon Antonopoulos, vice president of investigations at Solidus Labs, in an interview with CoinDesk.
“This paints a shocking picture of victim exploitation, especially when considering the tens of thousands of tokens that are launched daily across Solana, BSC, Base, and other networks.”
Inside PumpCell’s Playbook
According to Solidus, PumpCell’s strategy commences with the deployment or identification of new tokens, followed by liquidity provision, and then employing sniper bots like Maestro and Banana Gun to execute trades within seconds of launch. These initial purchases frequently cause substantial artificial price surges, triggering automated alerts that attract copy traders.
Members subsequently generate meme-driven stories, often impersonating legitimate projects or capitalizing on cultural trends, to entice additional buyers before exiting at the optimal moment, as per the investigation.
One token, ZERO, soared to nearly $2 million in fully diluted valuation in less than an hour on Solana, while others like “inspiration mushroom” and a parody token named “shanghai composite index 6900” also experienced rapid spikes before crashing. Solidus estimates the group reaped around $800,000 in profits during October 2025 alone.
Over a quarter of the wallets linked to this ring eventually transferred funds to centralized exchanges, including Binance, Solidus discovered. Some group members also reportedly cashed out through an Eastern European OTC broker that exchanged physical currency for on-chain transfers — a technique Solidus claims allowed them to completely evade compliance controls.
The investigation underscores how the permissionless nature of crypto facilitates manipulation tactics that differ significantly from traditional markets. The ultra-fast contract deployment, AMM-driven liquidity, sub-second bot execution, and anonymous cross-chain movement render coordinated schemes challenging to detect using legacy surveillance tools designed for centralized order-book markets.
Solidus suggests that contemporary supervision must incorporate real-time AMM analytics, behavioral wallet clustering, and on-chain fund tracing to uncover such operations. The firm cautions that PumpCell is not an isolated incident but rather a blueprint for modern digital-asset abuse functioning at both speed and scale.
Antonopoulos emphasized that exchanges hold an “obligation for consumer protection,” particularly as numerous platforms continue to launch their own layer-2 networks.
“Almost all major exchanges are effectively opening the floodgates by implementing a layer 2 that they wish to keep as permissionless as possible. They aim to avoid being gatekeepers, adhering to the ideals of crypto. However, they simultaneously bear a responsibility for consumer protection,” he remarked.
“We are operating in a landscape where they could potentially list thousands of tokens daily, not necessarily on an order book, but made available for liquidity pools and trading on layer 2s.”
