Getting sucked into a crypto scam and then deciding to get out, despite the death threats(!)[1] is not a rug pull.

To be clear, the BAGS scam coin he got sucked into is a extractive zero-sum game where someone else creates a coin named after him, offers him trading commission to talk about it and then makes money off the hype.

He did the correct thing by leaving.

(I worked for a bit at a Web3 place. Went in with an open mind and now have opinions)

[1] https://x.com/Steve_Yegge/status/2043127887059210470

The description on Wikipedia looks like somebody else created a memecoin in his honor, sent him the profits, and he accepted them? And the only people harmed were people who invest in random memecoins? I don't understand the problem.

To me, no, not quite. I'll give him one free pass. More like "I'll coast on this pulled rug to see what happens" than that he did the rug pull. Not a very wise thing to do, but not malicious either.