CZ-Inspired TST Meme Coin Tanks 33%, Another Rug Pull?

6d ago•

bullish:

bearish:

The Test Token (TST), a meme coin that originated from a Binance tutorial, nosedived this morning in a massive 15-minute selloff. The token plunged from $0.04960 to $0.01547, losing over two-thirds of its value, before settling near $0.0273 at the time of writing.

This dramatic dip came with a 1,000% spike in trading volume, currently standing at $136 million. According to data from CoinGlass, TST open interest has dropped over 25% to $27 million in the past day, with Binance seeing a decline of more than 34%.

TST was initially created as a demonstration token in a BNB Chain tutorial earlier this year. It gained traction after the accidental reveal of its contract address in a demo video. Despite being a valueless example, it transformed into one of the top meme coins and even reached an all-time high of $0.5244 in February.

The price is now down 95% from that peak, and the recent crash resulted in speculations of a pump-and-dump scheme. Crypto analyst Jason Chen linked the TST dump to a familiar pattern seen with other tokens like ACT and Mas.

“[Hidden insiders] create long sideways actions to fake accumulation, then pump the price so people FOMO in, and finally crash it with a brutal dump,” Chen wrote in a translated post on X.

从ACT到Mask，再到TST，这些恶庄收割的套路都是长期横盘营造出一种底部吸筹的假象，然后突然拉一下让大家以为吸筹结束要启动了，于是猛猛冲进去，庄家瞬间直接砸盘50%完成暴力收割 pic.twitter.com/e3Wa0rk4QP

— 陈剑Jason 🐡 (@jason_chen998) August 7, 2025

It is important to note that previously, when TST saw a massive drop soon after its launch, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) announced his desire to compensate the holders, despite denying any direct involvement with the token.

A Pattern of Collapse

TST’s fall now places it in the same league as other pump-and-dump cases amid an ongoing wave of manipulative schemes in the crypto market. Chainalysis earlier reported that in 2024, over 4.5% of newly launched tokens exhibited rug pull characteristics.

Earlier this year, Argentine President Javier Milei controversially promoted the LIBRA token, which skyrocketed from fractions of a cent to over $5 before crashing 85%. The crash had wiped out hundreds of millions in market cap and affected 74,000 LIBRA investors.

Similarly, influencer Haliey Welch’s HAWK token reached nearly $500 million in market value before a sudden collapse to just $25 million. The fallout sparked a lawsuit over alleged pump-and-dump tactics and insider trading.

Melania Trump’s meme coin, Official Melania Meme MELANIA $0.21 24h volatility: 0.1% Market cap: $145.01 M Vol. 24h: $5.88 M , is facing rug pull allegations after several top holders cashed out by strategically adding and removing liquidity over time.