Journal of
Italian
Banking
Association

year 100
 

Archive » September 2026 » Crypto Scams in Token Markets: Toward an Operational Taxonomy for Retail Investor Protection

Crypto Scams in Token Markets: Toward an Operational Taxonomy for Retail Investor Protection

Paola Agnese Bongini, Andito Biba
September 2026 - n. 9
Keywords: Crypto asset, scam, honeypot, rug pull, pig butchering, financial literacy, smart contract, DeFi
Jel codes: G10, G14, G23, 033, D14

The crypto asset market attracts growing segments of retail investors who lack the tools to assess risk. Fraud losses in 2024 exceeded $5.8 billion, with a marked increase in scams facilitated by generative AI. This work proposes an operational taxonomy of frauds: honeypots (contractually embedded on-chain), rug pulls (post-fundraising), and pig butchering (relationship-based). Particular attention is devoted to cases in which tokens generated massive losses without meeting clear criminal law thresholds. For each category, documentary, on-chain, and behavioural signals are identified to support preventive risk assessment, acknowledging that defences remain structurally backwards-looking relative to the innovation of fraudulent actors.

Interested in this paper?
Buy the issue