Key Insights:
- Recent crypto news revealed a wallet traced to a pump.fun memecoin flipped a modest $285 into 220,000% gains.
- Lookonchain said the wallet showed insider-like timing, buying 66.3 million ZREAL, selling 10 million for about $210,000, and still holding 46.3 million.
- Lookonchain later said the wallet showed insider-like timing.
Recent crypto news revealed a wallet traced to a pump.fun memecoin flipped a modest $285 into a sizable payday with 2200X returns on Monday. The sudden win has also reignited talk of insider-style trading, especially as the latest memecoin wave heats up again.
This also follows the news of another crypto sniper who reportedly pulled off a bold play on Polymarket over the weekend.
With weekend liquidity thin, the trader was able to beat the automated bots at their own game and lock in roughly $233,000. It did not take long for the trade to ripple through crypto market and light up timelines.
Some observers saw it as clever execution. Others argued it crossed a line and should trigger disciplinary action.
Crypto News: How a Crypto Sniper Flipped $285 Into 2200X Gains?
The latest crypto news indicates a trader who put just $285 into a memecoin called $ZREAL early ended up banking about $627,000 after selling into a rush of retail demand.
Lookonchain later said the wallet showed insider-like timing. It reported the trader scooped up 66.3 million ZREAL, sold roughly 10 million for around $210,000, and still held 46.3 million tokens.
Based on current prices, that remaining stash sat on an unrealized gain of about $417,000.
On-chain records also support the allegation. The wallets involved fired off hundreds of market sell orders across a roughly 10-hour stretch on Monday, suggesting a coordinated exit rather than normal retail trading.
This pattern fits a familiar playbook in memecoins. So-called snipers often hear about a token before it launches, then use bots to buy the moment liquidity appears. After that, they dump into the public once hype pushes prices higher, locking in fast gains.
Sniping shot to popularity after Hayden Davis laid out his version of how the game worked during a podcast appearance with Coffeezilla. He said he played a role in launching several headline memecoins, including MELANIA and LIBRA.
Then he went further. Davis described memecoins as a fast way to pull liquidity from everyday buyers who show up late. That blunt framing turned him into a symbol of the era and a lightning rod at the same time.
It also exposed the rough, anything-goes reality of memecoin trading, where well-positioned players can unload into retail demand and tilt the odds in their favor.
Memecoins Started Heating Up In Early January
Memecoins were on fire early last year, but the hype has cooled since then. Still, people never stopped chasing quick wins. Now the crypto buzz is coming back, little by little, as a few viral trades draw traders back in.
That is the backdrop for the ZREAL flip. It landed during a mini memecoin season, with activity picking up again on Pump.fun. In fact, the launchpad posted a record day earlier this month, when daily trading volume surged to about $1.2 billion.
ZREAL has also built a fast-growing crowd online. Since it launched on Sunday, the token’s X community has climbed past 7,000 members, while 24-hour trading volume hit about $18 million.
Meanwhile, the timing is hard to ignore. The ZREAL surge followed closely after another headline-grabbing trade, where a crypto trader used thin weekend liquidity and automated market-making bots on Polymarket to pull in roughly $233,000.
That move quickly set off a fresh argument about where smart trading ends and market manipulation begins.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2026/01/21/crypto-news-trader-faces-insider-trading-allegations-amid-2200x-return-heres-all/
