Image Credit: Shutterstock
South Korean prosecutors have charged five people over a rug pull tied to CATFI, a Solana-based memecoin created on Pump.fun and traded on a decentralized exchange.
Local and industry reports described the case as South Korea’s first arrest and prosecution tied to a DEX rug pull under the country’s virtual asset law. Two suspects were indicted in custody and three others were indicted without detention.
Five Charged Over CATFI DEX Rug Pull
Prosecutors say the group created CATFI in early 2025, listed it on a decentralized exchange and promoted it through misleading social media activity. The group allegedly concealed control over the token supply while encouraging investors to buy the memecoin.
The main suspect, identified only by the surname Park, allegedly posed online as an independent influencer using the name “Eth Father” while recommending CATFI purchases. That alleged promotion helped give the token the appearance of outside market interest, even though prosecutors say the group controlled the scheme behind the scenes.
CATFI Surged 1,001-Fold Before Collapse
According to the investigation, CATFI’s price surged 1,001-fold within 26 hours of launch. The token attracted around 6,000 buyers before collapsing.
Prosecutors said 256 investors suffered losses of about 900 million won, while the group generated roughly 400 million won in illicit proceeds. The alleged proceeds came from an initial outlay of around 10 million won.
900M Won Losses Test South Korea’s Crypto Law
The case matters because it pushes South Korea’s enforcement beyond centralized exchange trading and into onchain memecoin activity. Reports said it is the first application of the unfair-trading provisions under the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users to a DEX rug-pull scheme.
That gives prosecutors an early test of how far the law can reach when token issuance, wallet control and trading happen through more decentralized venues.
Prosecutors Target CATFI Issuers and Promoters
For the market, the message is direct. South Korean authorities are no longer treating Solana memecoin rug pulls as a purely offshore or platform-level issue. They are using the country’s virtual asset law to pursue issuers and promoters directly when they believe wallet control, false promotion and coordinated dumping amount to unfair trading.
The CATFI case could become an early marker for how South Korea applies its new crypto investor-protection regime to DEX-based token schemes.
