PUMP coin: What It Is, Why It’s Risky, and What You Need to Know

When you hear PUMP coin, a crypto token engineered to spike in price through coordinated buying, then collapse. Also known as pump and dump scheme, it's not a coin you invest in—it's a trap you avoid. These tokens have no team, no roadmap, no utility. They exist only to trick people into buying at the top so early players can cash out. You see them pop up on Telegram groups, TikTok clips, and Reddit threads with promises of 10x returns. But the only thing being pumped is the hype—and the wallets of the orchestrators.

PUMP coins are a type of micro-cap crypto, a token with a market cap under $50 million, often traded on obscure exchanges with zero regulation. They’re the same category as BURNS, ETPOS, and SLEX—tokens with almost no trading volume, no liquidity, and no real users. These aren’t startups waiting to grow. They’re ghosts with a ticker symbol. And when the pump ends, the price doesn’t just drop—it evaporates. Some vanish entirely, leaving holders with worthless tokens and no way to sell.

What makes PUMP coins dangerous isn’t just the loss of money. It’s how they exploit psychology. People see a 200% gain in an hour and think, "I could be next." But every PUMP coin has a hidden countdown. The group that started the rally already sold their holdings. The people posting "100x soon!" are the ones who bought low and are now dumping on you. And in places like India, where crypto profits are taxed at 30% with no loss offset, you pay taxes on fake gains while losing your principal.

There’s no secret strategy to win at PUMP coins. No indicator, no chart pattern, no "early entry" that works long-term. The only winning move is to not play. The posts below show you exactly how these schemes unfold—whether it’s a fake airdrop, a bot-driven pump, or a token with zero trading history. You’ll see real examples of tokens that looked like opportunities but turned into losses. You’ll learn how exchanges detect these pumps, how scammers hide their identities, and why even "low price" doesn’t mean "cheap."

What follows isn’t a list of coins to buy. It’s a collection of warnings. Each article pulls back the curtain on a different kind of crypto trap—and shows you what to look for before you click "buy."