The anonymous developer behind a popular artificial intelligence meme coin has rejected characterizations of last week’s events as a “rug pull,” describing the removal of the project’s entire liquidity pool as a “surprise liquidity graduation ceremony.”
‘A Milestone, Not A Theft’
“Graduation is bittersweet,” the developer wrote in a message posted to the project’s Telegram at 4:07 a.m., approximately ninety seconds before deleting the Telegram. “You have completed the course. The course was: money can leave.”
Holders reported receiving no cap, no gown, and no money. One holder, who asked to be identified only as “still early,” said he had been looking forward to a diploma. “I got a screenshot of a wallet address,” he said. “It’s technically a document.”
The Warning Signs, In Retrospect
Investors noted several details that seemed insignificant at the time, including a whitepaper consisting of 47 pages and zero information, an audit performed by the developer’s cousin, and a liquidity lock the team described as secured for six months — months that were later revealed to be measured on Mercury.
Our Rug Pull Field Guide lists these signals in detail, though readers are reminded that reading warnings and heeding warnings remain two distinct activities with wildly different success rates.
Practice Makes Perfect
For readers hoping to recognize the pattern before it costs them anything, we maintain a Rug Pull Simulator in which users may ape into a fictional token, watch the line go up, feel briefly like a genius, and then discover they were exit liquidity — all at no cost beyond dignity.
The simulator has been played thousands of times. The house has never lost. Neither has the dev. This is the only genuinely reliable data point in the entire sector.
The Ceremony Continues
At press time, the developer had launched a new token, described as “different this time,” and had scheduled a second graduation for approximately Thursday. Attendance is mandatory and, in a sense, automatic.
The Alumni Network
Former holders have organized what they describe as an alumni association, though its only activity so far has been comparing entry prices and describing the experience as “tuition.” Membership is free and, unusually for this sector, involuntary.
“I paid $4,000 for a lesson I could have gotten from a library book,” one member said. “In fairness, I would not have read the library book.”
The Language Problem
Linguists have tracked an accelerating euphemism treadmill across the industry. “Rug pull” became “exit,” which became “liquidity event,” which became “restructuring,” which has now become “graduation.” Each term survives roughly nine months before holders learn what it means and a replacement is required.
Our meme dictionary maintains a running translation, including the entries “it’s still early” (it is too late) and “DYOR” (a legally binding shrug).
Related Reading
More from the AI Labs Coin desk: the Rug Pull Simulator, a pie chart with one slice, the Rug Pull Field Guide. Everything on this site is satire, except the parts that are quietly useful, which are clearly marked and hidden at the bottom of pages like this one.
See where this one ranks on our live meme coin leaderboard, where the audit column includes the rating “AUDIT IS YOU.”
