2026’s first big rug was $TROVE what happened? @TroveMarkets ran an ICO with a $2.5M target but raised $11.5M via oversubscription. Then the token launched, dropped below <$1M FDV within hours, and slid to around ~$500K FDV. The moment they said “we’re launching on Solana,” FUD exploded. They raised money off the Hyperliquid hype, then did a last-minute pivot to Solana. The team framed it as “goodwill” and refunded only $100K, while keeping the remaining ~$9.4M, saying they would “keep building.” In their DISCLAIMER, they basically say: “In the event of extreme oversubscription, the raise target may be increased and more supply may be issued to the ICO.” (In practice, clauses like this can mean there’s no real cap.) Final scene: •They launched with only ~$50K liquidity •Sold tokens around ~$20M FDV, then it instantly crashed to ~$700K FDV •Top wallets dumped and the token fell ~95% in the first minutes Also, bragging about “testnet stats” to sell a presale is a red flag. If there’s no clear moat, stats = marketing. KOL / drama side: •People claimed some KOLs were paid to push the presale •DidiTrading called out waleswoosh over an undisclosed payment •spacexbt brought more “proofs” arguing it was an absolute rug •The “if you’re paid, you’re not a victim” debate turned CT into total chaos, and waleswoosh (wale.moca) posted a clarification + apology: “I wasn’t paid to promote the ICO, but I failed to disclose, that’s on me.” Then clarified: “I was paid, just not for promoting the ICO.” Personally, I didn’t join the sale and I didn’t even talk about it and there was way too much influencer marketing. I could tell something was paid, so I quietly stayed out.