If you search “pump and dump crypto” or “what is pump and dump,” you’ll find two extremes: fear-based warnings or hype about “catching the next moon.” The practical reality is simpler.
Pump & dump in crypto is a market regime where price accelerates fast, liquidity thins out, execution degrades, and late decisions get punished. That’s why the professional workflow does not start with an entry—it starts with filtering and rules.
In our project this is handled as a clean pipeline:
pump and dump screener + quality filters → chart confirmation → algorithmic execution.
And when it comes to shorting pumps, the flagship solutions are ST Bot and ST12—built to operate in pump regimes with structured entries, management, and risk limits.
What is pump and dump in crypto
Pump & dump is a price pattern where an asset is pushed up rapidly (the pump) and then sold into the market (the dump). In practice it often looks like this: a sudden price spike, a volume spike crypto traders notice immediately, crowd FOMO begins, and then the move stalls and reverses as liquidity provided by late buyers becomes exit liquidity.
Not every sharp move is manipulation. But every sharp move in a thin market has a higher probability of being market manipulation, so you must treat it as a high-risk regime and apply filters.
Why low cap pump and dump is so common
Low-cap and “young” tokens are more vulnerable for mechanical reasons:
- Thin liquidity
- Order books are shallow, so price can be moved with less capital.
- New listing pump behavior
- A short trading history and unstable liquidity often create extreme conditions and easier “crowd control.”
- Slippage and spread expansion
- When the move heats up, execution quality deteriorates exactly when most people try to “jump in.”
- Leverage amplifies the move
- On perpetuals, stop hunts and liquidation cascades can intensify both the pump and the dump.
For traders, the conclusion is straightforward: you don’t trade pumps by intuition—you trade them by process.
How to detect crypto pumps: practical signals that matter
If your goal is to detect crypto pumps reliably, you should look at a cluster of signals, not price alone:
- rapid acceleration over a short window
- a volume spike crypto markets show during the impulse
- execution degradation: wider spreads, higher slippage, sharper wicks
- stop hunt behavior: liquidity sweeps around local levels
- the asset decouples from the broader market regime
- the setup is more frequent on thin, young, or low-cap instruments
The most common mistake is focusing only on the price chart. Price without liquidity and volume context is misleading.
Why you need a pump and dump screener
Manual scanning does not scale. By the time you browse tickers, the event is already near climax—and that’s when traders tend to chase. A pump and dump screener fixes the workflow: it detects events as they happen and surfaces them based on rules, not emotions.
A screener is not a “buy/sell button.” It is a radar:
- detect the regime early
- filter out noise
- produce a short list of candidates worth reviewing
- enforce discipline so you follow rules, not adrenaline
That’s what “pump and dump signals” should mean in a mature setup: the event passed thresholds and filters, therefore it is eligible for review—not automatically tradable.
How our pump detector and crypto pump scanner work
Our approach is deliberately conservative: event parameters first, instrument quality second.
- Event threshold
- You define what qualifies as a “pump” (price move and/or speed and/or volume behavior), so you don’t get spammed by micro-fluctuations.
- Timeframe selection
- Choose the horizon where you want to catch the impulse. Shorter timeframes react faster; longer ones reduce noise.
- Liquidity filter crypto traders must respect A 24h turnover filter is the foundation. Without it, you’ll see “great” pumps on symbols you cannot execute properly due to slippage.
- Coin age and new listing filters. Young tokens are a separate risk class. Filtering by coin age reduces exposure to unstable market structure.
- Lists and exclusions
- You can apply blacklist / whitelist logic to enforce policy-level restrictions across instruments.
The result is a true crypto pump scanner: fewer events, higher signal quality, cleaner decisions.
Signal → chart → decision: how to trade pumps manually
A disciplined workflow after a screener event:
Step 1. Check liquidity and turnover
If the market is thin, entries and exits will be worse than the chart suggests.
Step 2. Check coin age and context
New and young tokens require tighter limits and smaller sizing.
Step 3. Read structure
Is it early impulse or late-stage climax? This matters more than the headline percentage.
Step 4. Decide by rules
Skip it, wait for confirmation, or act only within a predefined scenario.
A screener accelerates discovery. Discipline controls the outcome.
How to short crypto pumps: the only practical framework
Many people search “how to short crypto pumps” expecting a magic top signal. That is the wrong target. Shorting pumps must be a rule-based process:
- trade only symbols that pass liquidity and quality filters
- do not short “into the impulse” blindly
- wait for structural slowdown and regime shift confirmation
- predefine risk limits, position sizing, and margin policy
- use execution rules and a cooldown window: no revenge entries after missing the move
A pump can extend far longer than most traders can stay solvent. Your edge is limits, not confidence.
Flagship pump-shorting solutions: ST Bot and ST12
In our project, pump shorting is a core specialization. We use two distinct short modes:
- ST Bot (Short) An event-driven model: detect the pump → confirm reversal → open the short → manage it by rules. This is the practical workhorse for impulse regimes.
- ST12 (Short) A higher-timeframe, more structured approach designed for stability and cleaner signals. Less noise, stronger context, and a process-first workflow.
In simple terms:
ST Bot is optimized for fast, event-driven pump regimes.
ST12 supports systematic shorts in heavier, higher-signal environments.
Both exist to enforce discipline: selective entries, controlled management, and risk policy—rather than emotional averaging or panic sizing.
Why screeners and bots work best together
Screeners solve detection: where the regime event is happening.
Bots solve execution and discipline: how to enter, manage, and exit under risk limits.
Only a screener gives you many events and many manual mistakes.
Only a bot without strict selection broadens the trade universe and lowers stability.
The combined architecture is the professional one:
screener → filters → algorithm → risk limits.
Risk management: minimum standards for pump regimes
To avoid turning pump and dump crypto into roulette, define:
per-trade risk limits
- caps on concurrent positions
- strict position sizing and margin policy
- a hard rule: no entry without liquidity filtering
- no chasing: if the move is gone, the trade is canceled
- exit rules defined before entry, not rewritten mid-trade
FAQ
1) Is every sharp move a pump and dump?
No. Not every spike is manipulation. But on thin, young, or low-liquidity symbols, the probability of a pump-style regime is higher, so you must treat it as a high-risk environment and apply stricter filters.
2) Is a pump and dump screener a “trade signal”?
No. It’s an event detector. It tells you the move passed your thresholds. The trade decision still requires liquidity checks, context, and chart confirmation.
3) Why do you insist on a 24h turnover / liquidity filter?
Because thin markets produce “beautiful” price moves that are not tradable in real execution. Without liquidity filtering, slippage and spread expansion can destroy the edge.
4) How do I detect crypto pumps more reliably: price or volume?
Use both. Price acceleration without a volume spike can be noise; volume without structure can be distribution. The highest-quality events usually combine acceleration, volume expansion, and visible regime shift.
5) How to short crypto pumps safely?
You don’t “hunt the top.” Wait for confirmation that the impulse is slowing and structure is breaking, then size conservatively with predefined risk limits and a clear invalidation plan.
6) Are low-cap pumps always good short candidates?
No. Low-cap pumps can extend longer than expected and can be highly toxic to execute. Treat them with stricter filters (liquidity, coin age, turnover) and smaller sizing.
7) Do I need to trade every pump and dump signal?
No. Most events should be ignored. The goal is not more trades; the goal is higher-quality trades that fit your rules.
8) What’s the difference between ST Bot and ST12?
ST Bot is event-driven and optimized for fast pump regimes. ST12 operates in a heavier, higher-timeframe context for more structured and stable signals. They cover different market modes.
9) Can a pump keep going even after it “looks overextended”?
Yes. That’s why chasing and early counter-trend entries are expensive. Your protection is risk limits, confirmation, and disciplined execution rules.
Conclusion
Pump & dump in crypto is a recurring regime—especially in low-cap and young tokens—where execution quality deteriorates and mistakes get amplified. The only sustainable approach is systematic: a pump detector flags the event, quality filters remove noise, chart confirmation adds context, and ST Bot / ST12 trading bots execute the short as a controlled process with risk limits and disciplined management.