- A trader identified as an “insider” gained over $600,000 in unrealised profits by sniping the ZREAL memecoin immediately upon its launch.
- The trade used a common strategy of buying early via bots and selling into retail demand as the token gained social media momentum.
- The incident underscores ongoing transparency concerns on platforms like Pump.fun, where early insiders often profit at the expense of later retail investors.
A new memecoin called ZREAL is blowing up in price and popularity, and one trader made a huge return by getting in right at the start and then selling almost immediately, which is nothing suspicious at all.
Blockchain data from Lookonchain shows the wallet bought very early, describing the trader as an “insider” and saying the wallet accumulated about 66.3 million tokens. It also said around 10 million tokens were sold for roughly US$210K (AU$321K), while tens of millions remained in the wallet with an estimated US$417K (AU$638K) unrealised gain.
This style of trade is commonly called “sniping” in memecoins: someone gets in immediately (often using bots), then exits as later buyers push the price up. It drew wider attention in early 2025 after Hayden Davis discussed how some memecoin launches can be structured to profit by selling into retail demand, including claims tied to tokens such as MELANIA and LIBRA.
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ZREAL Insider Trading
The trade is happening during a small memecoin bounce. ZREAL picked up a quick online following and strong trading activity, and Pump.fun (a popular site where these tokens launch) recently hit about US$1.2 billion (AU$1.84 billion) in daily volume.
It also highlights the bigger issue with memecoins: some launches are built so early insiders can cash out while late buyers are left holding the bag. A research report last year said most Pump.fun tokens were scams, and Pump.fun denied that.
Read more: Yakovenko vs. Buterin: Solana’s Constant Evolution Meets Ethereum’s “Walkaway” Ideal
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