Hey everyone,

I want to share a crazy experience I had recently in the world of crypto—one that exposed how memecoins are manipulated through bot-driven liquidity tricks and insider schemes.

The Start – Launching a Meme Coin on Pump.fun

https://preview.redd.it/8srtp6o9mbje1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52fd93b0c6481b1813efec305640bdea886d564f

On January 31, 2025, I launched $SNAKEOIL on Pump.fun—a decentralized token launch platform. The process was ridiculously fast—I had a live token in minutes, complete with an AI-generated logo.

At first, I was the only buyer and seller, holding 2 million tokens, while the platform provided $5,000 USD in liquidity. I even registered a domain for less than a dollar: snakeoiltoken.com

For two weeks, nothing happened. Then, things got weird.

February 14 – The Rugpullers Contact Me

Out of nowhere, I was contacted on LinkedIn by two anonymous people claiming they liked the project and wanted to support it. One insisted on a Telegram call, where they proposed a rug pull—a classic scam where they pump the price, attract buyers, and then dump everything.

Here’s what they offered:
🚨 10 million tokens if I tweeted about $SNAKEOIL to generate hype
🚨 Insider access to their “community” (aka victims)
🚨 Big price pumps to make the token “look legit”

Sensing a scam, I decided to play along to test their response. I casually asked for 10 SOL in return for posting the tweet. That’s when things got intense.

The Artificial Pump – Bots in Action

While I was still on the call, I watched the price of $SNAKEOIL skyrocket. It went from almost nothing to a $121K market cap in minutes. But there was a catch—the buyers and sellers were all from their group, likely bots executing trades to fake demand.

Then came the threat:
💀 “If you don’t agree, we’ll bring it down.”
💀 “You’ll regret missing this opportunity.”

Minutes later, they rugged the market. The price crashed instantly, proving my suspicion that it was all a bot-driven liquidity game.

The Experiment – Fighting Back

Instead of walking away, I decided to push back.
🔹 I bought back 2 million tokens to see what would happen.
🔹 That triggered another price rally—but this time, I managed to convert $50 worth of $SNAKEOIL into SOL before the next dump.
🔹 Now, I still hold 5.6 million tokens, worth around $20, while there’s $5K liquidity still in the pool. I’m planning to gradually acquire more coins. My target is to have 1-2% of the overall coins in circulation.

What’s Next? Should I Revive It?

After all this, $SNAKEOIL is now listed on Raydium, and I’m debating whether to turn it into a legitimate memecoin or just let the experiment play out.

I’ve already started slowly buying more tokens and currently hold 0.5% of the supply, aiming to reach 1-2% before any media exposure.

$SNAKEOIL Token Address (Solana)

📌 EF7T1EqJ6LsTad7wiyhrcRuYYufcKJzj2izqQNn7pump

https://www.geckoterminal.com/solana/pools/FmwkoPBtpVF1x6h3zM8XP6Kw8b17ZM3rMG3cupGTi4i8

Lessons Learned & Warnings for Others

💡 Bot manipulation is rampant in memecoins – If you see a token pumping out of nowhere, assume bots are involved.
💡 Scammers use LinkedIn too – These guys pretended to be legit crypto investors.
💡 Always question sudden price action – If a token goes 100x in minutes, ask who’s really buying?

What Do You Think?

🔹 Should I try to make $SNAKEOIL a real project?
🔹 Have you ever seen or experienced bot-driven pumps like this?
🔹 What’s the best way to counteract rugpullers and make memecoins more legit?

Would love to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment below! 🚀