Pump and dump
A scheme in which coordinated buyers artificially inflate an asset's price through hype and false statements, then sell their holdings at the peak — leaving latecomers with worthless assets.
Also known as: P&D, coordinated buy scheme
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Pump-and-dump schemes have existed in traditional stock markets for over a century, but have found a new, largely unregulated home in cryptocurrency markets. Organisers — who hold a large quantity of a low-liquidity token — coordinate a buying campaign and flood social media, messaging groups, and forums with enthusiastic (and often fabricated) claims about the asset's prospects.
As retail investors buy in response to the apparent momentum, the price rises. The organisers sell their holdings at or near the peak, the artificial demand collapses, and the price falls rapidly. Latecomers, who bought at or near the top, are left holding assets worth a fraction of what they paid.
In regulated securities markets, pump-and-dump is illegal. In most cryptocurrency markets, enforcement is limited. Large Telegram and Discord groups dedicated to 'coordinated buys' are openly operating pump-and-dump schemes.