South Korea Arrests CATFI Meme Coin Creators Over Solana Rug Pull

Investigators believe the scammers made around 400 million won through a rug pull scheme on a decentralized exchange.

South Korea uncovers fraud scheme involving Solana meme coin CATFI

27.05.2026 - 09:25

3 min

Key points:

South Korean prosecutors arrested the creators of the CATFI meme coin over an alleged rug pull scheme on Solana.
The token surged more than 1,000x within a day before investors lost around 900 million won.

South Korean prosecutors have charged a group accused of launching the CATFI meme coin on the Solana network and carrying out a cryptocurrency fraud scheme. According to investigators, the group generated roughly 400 million won in illegal profits.

The case marks the first time South Korea has applied its Virtual Asset User Protection Act to fraud-related charges rather than simple market manipulation. It is also the country’s first investigation into a rug pull scheme involving a decentralized exchange (DEX).

On May 27, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office announced the arrest of two suspects. Another individual was indicted without detention. Authorities are also investigating two additional people accused of helping the alleged mastermind evade law enforcement.

How the Scheme Worked

Investigators say the group launched the CATFI token through Pump.Fun, a Solana-based token creation platform, in early 2025. After listing the token on a DEX, the suspects allegedly created artificial hype around the coin before withdrawing investor funds and disappearing.

The alleged ringleader, identified by the surname Park, operated on social media under the nickname “EtherFather.” Prosecutors say he posed as an independent crypto influencer and actively encouraged followers to buy CATFI.

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According to the FBI, the operation helped prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

According to prosecutors, the group managed the project’s social media accounts, inflated follower numbers, and posted misleading promotional content. To conceal control over the token supply, they distributed tokens across multiple wallets and conducted circular trading activity.

Following its listing, CATFI’s price surged more than 1,000-fold within just 26 hours. Around 6,000 investors purchased the token. Authorities say 256 investors ultimately suffered combined losses of about 900 million won.

Investigators found that the group spent roughly 10 million won to launch the project before allegedly generating around 400 million won in criminal proceeds.

Prosecutors said they will continue cracking down on digital asset-related crimes in order to protect investors and maintain trust in the crypto market.

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