“No Hands” Crypto Stream Rugs Investors

Last weekend, the cryptocurrency community witnessed a curious and ultimately deceitful live stream on Twitch, where a man claiming to be physically unable to conduct a “rug pull”—a scam where developers quickly cash out of a project, leaving investors with worthless tokens—because he had no hands. The streamer, whose channel was fittingly named NoHandsNoRug, enticed viewers to invest in his Solana meme coin, HANDS.

The stream started with the developer’s audacious claim: “I don’t have hands, I cannot rug you guys, chill.” However, the twist in the tale came just three minutes into the stream. The developer, who had initially appeared to have no arms, shockingly revealed that he had his arms hidden behind his back. He then dashed to his computer and swiftly withdrew all the liquidity from the project, executing a classic rug pull in mere seconds.

This incident left investors literally empty-handed, echoing the dev’s deceptive play on words. The exploit drained all liquidity from HANDS in about three seconds, a swift move that left the community stunned but not entirely surprised. Prior to the event, one attentive viewer had even questioned the feasibility of the coin’s deployment, given the developer’s supposed physical limitation.

The dev made off with approximately 7 SOL, which was valued at just over $1,000 at the time—a small haul in the grand scheme of crypto scams but a significant betrayal nonetheless. The crypto community has seen its fair share of livestream scams, including a particularly notorious incident the previous week involving sexually suggestive acts to promote another meme coin.

However, the tale of HANDS did not end with the rug pull. After a video clip of the reveal went viral on Twitter (formerly known as X), a group of four anonymous friends decided to take over the HANDS project. They believed it had garnered enough notoriety to sustain itself as a viable meme coin. By Monday, they had already initiated a social media campaign and were in the process of building a dedicated website.

Despite these efforts, the shadow of potential further scams looms large, with a significant portion of the token supply held by an anonymous trader. Such conditions ripe for another rug pull, particularly in the volatile realm of meme coins where liquidity is often scarce.

The “No Hands” scam serves as a stark reminder of the risks inherent in the cryptocurrency space, particularly within the meme coin sector. While the community’s attempt to salvage HANDS showcases the resilient spirit of crypto enthusiasts, it also highlights the ongoing challenges of trust and security in decentralized finance.