Which crypto to stay away from ?

Avoid low-liquidity memecoins and newly launched tokens on cheap, fast chains, since these carry the highest scam concentration in 2026. Memecoins accounted for nearly 80% of rug pulls in early 2026, and research found rug-pull warning signs in up to 98% of new tokens on some Solana launchpads, making that chain a particular hotspot for exit scams. Rug pulls made up roughly 35% of all crypto scam losses, with over $2.8 billion lost across chains in 2025. Categories to avoid, in order of risk: (1) Anonymous-team tokens with unlocked or team-controlled liquidity — the single biggest predictor of a rug pull. (2) Tokens tied to celebrity or trending-culture hype (movie tie-ins, politician-branded coins, AI-deepfake endorsements) launched within days of the hype spike. (3) "Honeypot" tokens that allow buying but block selling, inflating charts artificially. (4) Fake exchanges or staking platforms with polished UIs but unverifiable withdrawal histories. (5) Presale or "guaranteed yield" tokens promising fixed high returns, a Ponzi-scheme hallmark. This changes by context: a retail investor putting in under $10,000 (roughly 70% of victims) faces the highest relative risk from social-media hype coins, while larger algorithmic traders are more exposed to honeypot contracts and exchange-level fraud. Geography matters too — US and EU platforms face more regulatory recourse than offshore, unregistered exchanges. I can't name which specific currently-trading tokens are "the ones to avoid" with certainty, since scam projects rotate weekly and today's data is not something I can verify with full confidence beyond what's publicly reported. Practical takeaway: before buying any token, check liquidity-lock status, team transparency, contract audit legitimacy, and holder concentration using a screener like DexTools or a similar on-chain analyzer, and treat any asset promising fixed high yields as an automatic red flag regardless of marketing polish