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IntermediateLesson 5 of 7 · 3 min read

Community takeovers (CTOs)

When a dev abandons a coin, holders sometimes take it over and run it themselves. A few become big. Most fade.

On this page
  1. What changes in a CTO
  2. The launchpads noticed
  3. How to look at a CTO
  4. Quiz

Many coins are abandoned within minutes. The dev sells, deletes the socials and moves on. Usually the coin dies. Sometimes the holders decide the meme is too good to let go, and they run it themselves. That is a community takeover, or CTO.

What changes in a CTO

The coin itself does not change. The contract, the supply and the address stay exactly the same. What changes is who runs everything around it: the X account, the Telegram group, the website, the picture and links on chart sites, and the marketing.

A takeover usually goes like this:

  1. The dev sells out, goes silent or loses everyone's trust.
  2. Holders who still believe in the meme find each other on X and Telegram.
  3. They make new social accounts and a website under community control.
  4. They update the coin's page on chart sites with the new links. On some sites you will see a line saying a community claimed the token, with a date.
  5. They raise money among themselves for marketing and push the coin to new buyers.

The launchpads noticed

Because CTOs became common, pump.fun built tools for them. On July 18, 2025 it announced that a community could apply to have an abandoned coin's creator fees sent to the people running the takeover, if there was clear proof they were keeping the coin alive and no dispute over who deserved the fees. In January 2026 it added fee sharing, letting creators and CTO admins split creator fees across up to 10 wallets after launch. Rules like these change often, so read the launchpad's own pages for the current version.

Example

BILLY: the dev left within 20 minutes

The takeover people still point to, from June 2024.

  1. Step 1: Early June 2024: a dog coin called BILLY launches on pump.fun.
  2. Step 2: Within 20 minutes, the dev sells their whole bag, mostly in one transaction worth about $1,116, and goes on to launch other coins.
  3. Step 3: By June 21, 2024, holders have taken the coin over. Within hours they have a new Telegram group, X account and website, and the chart page shows the new links. The team grows to as many as 100 volunteers.
  4. Step 4: BILLY goes on to peak at a market cap of about $215 million.
  5. Step 5: The tokens the dev sold for $1,116 would have been worth about $8.65 million at the late July 2024 price.
  6. Step 6: Most takeovers do not end like this. The ones that failed are simply forgotten, which makes CTOs look more successful than they are.
Top 10 holders: spread out versus concentratedTwo example bar charts of the ten biggest holders of a coin. On the left, spread out: the biggest holder has 3 percent and the top ten together hold 16 percent, so no one wallet can crash the price alone. On the right, concentrated: the biggest holder has 22 percent and the top ten hold 70 percent, so a few wallets can dump on everyone else. Example numbers; the pool is not counted.Spread outTop 10 hold 16%13%22.5%32%41.8%51.5%61.4%71.2%81.1%90.8%100.7%ConcentratedTop 10 hold 70%122%214%39%46%55%64%73%83%92%102%Example numbers. The pool is not counted.
After a takeover, look at who holds the supply. If a handful of wallets hold most of it, the 'community' may be a few people.

How to look at a CTO

  • Check the dev wallet. Did the original dev really sell out, or are they still holding a big bag?
  • Check the top holders. Is the supply spread out, or do a few wallets control it?
  • Look at the people. Are the leaders known accounts with a history, or brand-new names?
  • Watch holders over days, not minutes. A real community keeps growing even when the price is flat.

A CTO can turn a dead coin into a runner. It can also be the second act of the same rug. The label alone does not tell you which one you are looking at.

Next: a short history of metas

Check what you learned

0 of 4 answered

  1. Question 1What changes when a coin goes through a community takeover?
  2. Question 2What did pump.fun announce on July 18, 2025 for abandoned coins?
  3. Question 3TrickyA coin is labelled 'CTO' on a chart site. What does that tell you about its safety?
  4. Question 4In the BILLY story, how soon did the original dev sell their tokens?

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This guide is for learning. It is not financial advice. Most memecoins go to zero and most people who trade them lose money. Only ever trade what you can afford to lose.