Overview
BALD was a memecoin deployed on Base, Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network, on its public launch day on August 9, 2023. The token's name was widely interpreted as a reference to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who is bald — feeding speculation that it might be an insider or affiliated launch. This speculation, combined with the excitement around Base's debut, drove BALD to a market cap exceeding $100 million within hours.
Then the deployer pulled the liquidity.
The BALD deployer removed the vast majority of ETH liquidity from the token's primary Uniswap pool on Base, crashing the price and leaving holders unable to sell. On-chain analysis revealed that the deployer had funded the wallet from addresses linked to significant ETH holdings, fueling conspiracy theories about the deployer's identity. The deployer later re-added and removed liquidity multiple times, creating chaotic price action.
The BALD incident became one of the defining moments of Base's launch — a high-profile rug pull on Coinbase's own L2 on day one. It highlighted the risks of memecoin speculation and the lack of consumer protection in permissionless DeFi environments.
Community
There is no community in any meaningful sense. The "community" that formed around BALD was a speculative mob that assembled in hours and dispersed after the rug pull. Post-rug, social media discussion is limited to retrospective analysis and memes about the incident. Some holders formed groups seeking to identify the deployer, but no organized community exists around the token itself.
Liquidity
Liquidity was deliberately destroyed by the deployer. Whatever pools exist now have negligible depth. The token trades at a fraction of a cent with sporadic volume from bottom-fishers and memecoin archeologists. There are no exchange listings. The liquidity pull was the entire point — this token's liquidity story is one of deliberate extraction.
On-Chain Metrics
The on-chain story of BALD is forensic evidence of a rug pull. The deployer wallet, liquidity addition and removal transactions, and the timing of sells are all publicly visible on Base's block explorer. Holder count surged on launch day and has been static since — representing trapped holders, not an active community. The on-chain data is more useful as a case study in rug pull mechanics than as a measure of token health.
Development
Zero development. The token was deployed as a bare-bones ERC-20 with a Uniswap liquidity pool. No website, no roadmap, no development was ever intended. The "development" was the rug pull itself. Score: 0/10.
Risk Factors
- Confirmed rug pull: The deployer removed liquidity, crashing the price — this is established fact
- Zero liquidity: Cannot meaningfully trade the token
- Deployer identity unknown: The wallet was funded through privacy-preserving transactions
- No utility: Never had any product, protocol, or use case
- Legal ambiguity: Despite being a clear rug pull, enforcement is unlikely given the anonymous deployer
- Copycat risk: Multiple BALD copies and derivatives appeared, creating additional confusion
- Psychological trap: Occasional price bounces lure new speculators into a dead token
Conclusion
BALD is not a memecoin to evaluate — it's a crime scene. The deployer launched a token on the highest-profile L2 launch day of 2023, rode the hype to $100M+, and pulled the liquidity. The execution was brazen, the timing was calculated, and the aftermath was predictable. The only value BALD provides is educational: it demonstrates exactly how liquidity rug pulls work, why excitement around chain launches creates dangerous speculation environments, and why anonymous deployers with large wallets should be treated with extreme suspicion. The 0.9 score is generous — it accounts for the token's historical significance as a case study, not any intrinsic value.