Bitquery pegs Robinhood Chain rug-pull crew at 56 launches, $15.5M take

A blockchain investigation has extended the suspected rug-pull operations on Robinhood Chain to 56 memecoin launches. It also puts the group’s estimated take at a lower $15.5 million.

Bitquery published its results on September 28. The report examines the period of the activity until September 23, which is two days after the date used for the first estimate of $18.43 million.

The larger problem extends farther than determining which of the estimates is more accurate. Bitquery’s analysis of the market indicates how the features employed in launching new memecoins offer coordinated traders an advantage compared to ordinary investors. The majority of the traced market activity was happening on Pons, a token launchpad that runs on Robinhood Chain.

How a funded wallet buys the whole curve

Pons uses a bonding curve to sell its new tokens, enabling the earliest buyers to have the lowest prices. In a bid to avoid sniping, the platform charges 99% tax at the time of initial purchases. This tax then reduces to zero within five seconds. The creator of the tokens can choose which wallets are exempt from tax, according to The Block.

Bitquery connected one incident to the launch of DEED on September 21. Around 40 minutes prior to the token going live, one wallet related to the group funded the opening of 92 new addresses. In the next block, 25 tax-exempt wallets purchased about two-thirds of the entire supply.

No one else got a single token at launch prices.

— Bitquery

According to Bitquery, Pons managed to gather a mere 1.9 ETH in snipe tax from the total 35 launches associated with the group. This indicates that the exemptions of the wallets greatly diminished the effectiveness of the tax to prevent early sniping.

Two counts of the same operation

Wazz, a pseudonymous analyst, was the first to connect 53 launches that took place between the dates of July 10 and September 21 to a specific group and even suggested that the group made at least $18.43 million during these transactions.

The proceeds of one launch pay the key that funds the next.

— Wazz

On their end, The Block verified Wazz’s observations while looking at ten launches announced in their research and followed the movement of a single fund; however, it did not manage to replicate the figures reported by Wazz.

Then, Bitquery constructed its case based on transaction data, noting 56 launches from July 10 to September 23, including UNREAL, which launched after Wazz’s cutoff. Its estimate turned out somewhat lower at approximately $15.5 million net, or $12.4 million under its strictest accounting method.

As of September 28, the loss incurred by the buyers was approximately $13.3 million, whereas the group’s wallets accounted for close to $11.4 million in proceeds.

A launchpad-first pattern that travels

The group only accounts for part of the story. Bitquery has verified 467 other clusters using the same waiver-and-bundle approach on Pons, with a total possible earning of $11.6 million.

This is essential because launchpads are bringing about considerable activity. According to Cryptopolitan, Pons has already brought in $90 million in fees within a month.

This trend is not just confined to Robinhood Chain. The memecoin launchpads on Circle’s Arc platform contributed to approximately 82% of the volume of $410.8 million on decentralized exchanges on the first day, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

The regulatory backstop is also limited. A February 2025 SEC statement said transactions involving meme coins matching its description generally do not involve securities, while stressing that different facts can lead to a different conclusion.

That leaves traders facing a problem that is more structural than isolated: the same tools that make token launches fast and accessible can also make coordinated early capture cheap and repeatable. Bitquery’s reconstruction suggests the bigger warning is not one crew’s $15.5 million haul, but how easily the same playbook can be run again.