The BALD token, a new meme coin on Coinbase’s Base network, experienced a dramatic price drop of 85%, leading to allegations of an exit scam. The token, which was launched by a pseudonymous developer known as “Bald,” saw an impressive 289,000% increase within the first 14 hours of trading. However, the euphoria was short-lived as the token’s price plummeted nearly to zero following the removal of approximately $1.9 million worth of Ether in liquidity by the developer.
Developer denies market sales, sparks controversy
The developer of BALD has denied allegations of selling any tokens on the market. In response to the outcry, the developer stated that they had only added and removed two-sided liquidity and bought tokens. This statement sparked further controversy, with some investors arguing that adding two-sided liquidity essentially equates to selling tokens. The developer acknowledged this point, further fueling the debate.
According to blockchain data, it appears that the BALD token was created by the account 0xccfa0530b9d52f970d1a2daea670ce58e4176389. At 12:13 pm UTC on July 31st, this account removed 1,009.41 Wrapped Ether (WETH) from liquidity.
Investors’ risky bets on pre-launch assets
Despite warnings from the Base network’s development team about the network’s lack of a functioning user interface (UI) and urging ordinary users not to use the network, some investors sought early returns by buying up assets on the network even before its official launch. They did so by making use of development tools to bridge Ether from Ethereum to Base without a UI. This risky strategy has led to significant losses for some investors, highlighting the volatile and speculative nature of meme coins and pre-launch assets.
