AURA Token Surges Over 3,500% on Solana: Real Hype or Sophisticated Rug Pulling Scheme?
In the past 24 hours, Aura (AURA), a cultural token developed on the Solana blockchain, has recorded a stunning price increase of over 3,500%, attracting strong attention from the investment community. However, behind this surge are worrying warnings about manipulation risks and the possibility of a collapse.
Spectacular but Questionable Price Chart
According to data from TradingView, AURA has jumped from $0.001 to $0.037 in just one day, equivalent to an increase of 3,538%. Its market capitalization has skyrocketed from $1.1 million to over $34 million. 24-hour trading volume recorded a staggering 106,000% increase to $38 million, a clear indicator of an unusual influx of money into the token.
Notably, AURA quickly took the top spot on CoinGecko's top-performing tokens and entered the top trending searches on the platform.
Whales Take Profits, Small Investors May Be the Losers
On-chain analysts discovered that a whale spent $24,000 to buy 2.87 million AURA five months ago, then saw the token drop by more than 90%. However, on June 10 alone, this whale sold all of his AURA at its peak, earning $128,000, or a net profit of about $104,000.
Another wallet is reportedly holding nearly $700,000 in unrealized profits, thanks to AURA’s incredible surge. However, these attractive numbers raise concerns: Who is selling? And who will be the last to “hold the top”?
Signs of an Organized “Rug Pull”?
David, a well-known expert in the field of detecting cryptocurrency scams, has flagged AURA as a “Level 3 Professional Scam”. According to his analysis, AURA has no obvious utility, with a market cap of $70 million before plummeting to $600,000 within days of its launch in late May 2024.
One notable point: Most of the AURA tokens were distributed to new wallets with no history of purchases. Many top holders received the tokens via transfers from other wallets, rather than buying on the open market. This raises the question of an internal group controlling the supply, easily manipulating the price at will.
No news, no product, just hype on Crypto Twitter
A big reason why AURA's price surge is so hard to explain is the complete absence of platform news, partnership announcements, or any real products. No whitepaper, no roadmap, no DeFi or GameFi utility, just a meme-style token, spreading quickly thanks to excitement on Twitter/X.
According to experts, the sudden surge around 6pm on June 10 (UTC) is a clear sign of organized activity, possibly a "pump group" or an automated trading bot.
Inside the Cult Marketing Campaign
Cryptonary’s head of memes xbtcas calls AURA “a meme with outstanding performance and recognition,” and claims that it is a true cultural movement, not a pump-and-dump. According to him, the Twitter community has “revalued” AURA so much that no one, including Cryptonary, could have predicted its popularity.
However, this statement also raises the question: Is cult marketing becoming a new strategy to push up token prices, while the product itself has no intrinsic value?
A Lesson for Investors: Don’t Let Greed Overshadow Reason
AURA’s price surge is a clear demonstration of the FOMO (fear of missing out) effect that market manipulation teams can exploit. The fact that an obscure token can increase in price dozens of times in a day without any fundamentals to back it up is a warning sign of the fragility and manipulation of the current meme coin market.
"Once the excitement dies down, latecomers may pay the highest price," one analyst warns.
Conclusion: Aura Phenomenon or Mirage?
The AURA token may be considered by the community as the new meme icon, but with its opaque issuance history, centralized supply, and lack of clear utility, it is becoming a typical example of extreme speculative trends in the crypto market.
Investors need to stay calm, do their research, and not get caught up in the wave of temporary FOMO.