TST meme coin price crash sent shockwaves across the ecosystem this morning as the CZ-inspired Test Token (TST) plunged by 33% in just 15 minutes, triggering fears of yet another orchestrated rug pull in the crypto space.
The TST price crash, which saw the token fall from $0.04960 to $0.01547 before stabilizing around $0.0273, came amid a staggering 1,000% surge in trading volume, peaking at $136 million.
Data from CoinGlass confirms a sharp 25% drop in TST open interest, with Binance alone seeing a 34% decrease—further fueling speculation of insider manipulation.
Crypto analyst Jason Chen was quick to connect the dots.
“This looks like a textbook case,” he wrote on X. “Hidden insiders create long sideways actions to fake accumulation, then pump the price so people FOMO in, and finally crash it with a brutal dump.”
This isn’t the first TST price crash to stir concerns. The token, which was never meant to have real market value, emerged from a Binance BNB Chain tutorial as a mere demo.
However, after its contract address was accidentally leaked in a training video, retail traders swarmed in, turning it into one of the year’s hottest meme coins.
Source: x/jason_cheng
In February, the TST meme coin hit an all-time high of $0.5244, but today’s selloff leaves it 95% down from that peak. The TST price crash has now cemented its spot alongside other infamous pump-and-dump episodes, like LIBRA and HAWK.
The story of TST is as absurd as it is cautionary. Originally branded a “test token” with no monetary backing, its price action has been anything but experimental. The coin’s meteoric rise—and now, freefall—exemplifies the fragility of meme coin valuations driven by hype and herd behavior.
Even Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) weighed in earlier this year. After a previous TST price crash, he publicly offered to compensate affected holders despite denying any involvement in the token’s creation or distribution.
“Transparency and trust are crucial,” CZ said during an April AMA. “Even if I didn’t launch it, I don’t want Binance users to get burned.”
Industry-wide trend: pump-and-dump season?
According to a Chainalysis report, over 4.5% of new tokens launched in 2024 exhibited characteristics consistent with rug pulls and manipulative practices. The TST price crash appears to mirror those findings closely.
High-profile cases in recent months only add fuel to the fire. Argentina’s President Javier Milei faced backlash after endorsing LIBRA, a token that skyrocketed to over $5 before plunging 85%, wiping out nearly $400 million in market cap and affecting more than 70,000 investors.
Influencer Haliey Welch’s meme token HAWK also ballooned to a $500 million valuation before crashing down to $25 million. The fallout triggered lawsuits alleging insider trading and fraudulent promotion tactics—eerily similar to what’s being whispered in the wake of the TST price crash.
What’s next for TST and memecoin traders?
The future of TST remains uncertain. While meme coins have always carried high risk, the scale and speed of the TST price crash underscores the volatility of crypto markets driven more by hype than fundamentals.
“Retail investors need to realize these tokens are more like lottery tickets than investments,” said Linda Zhou, head of market insights at CryptoQuant. “There’s no safety net when a crash like this happens. No whitepaper. No utility. Just a Twitter trend and a dream.”
As of now, the TST meme coin continues to trade under $0.03, with analysts warning of further downside unless transparency measures or tokenomics reform are introduced.
The TST price crash isn’t just a meme coin implosion—it’s a loud wake-up call. As regulators, exchanges, and investors wrestle with how to protect markets from manipulation, the collapse of TST meme coin is yet another example of why caution must outweigh hype in crypto trading.
Until the space matures, the rise and fall of tokens like TST meme coin will continue to serve as both spectacle and sobering lesson.
Davidson Okechukwu is a passionate crypto journalist/writer and Web3 enthusiast, focusing on blockchain innovation, deFI, NFT ecosystems, and the societal impact of decentralized systems.
His engaging style bridges the gap between technology and everyday understanding with a degree in Computer Science and various professional certifications from prestigious institutions.
With over four years of experience in the crypto and DeFi space, Davidson combines his technical knowledge with a keen understanding of market dynamics.
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