A pump and dump is a price rise built to be sold into: a group quietly buys up a cheap CS2 item, talks it up until outsiders pile in, then sells its stock to them at the inflated price. In 2025 the Sticker | Evil Geniuses (Holo) | Stockholm 2021 was widely reported as one: it went from about $1.50 to well over $300 over the summer and lost 95% of its value within a week of peaking. Here is how it was reportedly run and how to spot the next.
How a CS2 pump and dump works
Regulators use the term for stock fraud. The US Securities and Exchange Commission's Investor.gov site describes fraudsters who "spread false or misleading information to create a buying frenzy", sell their own holdings at the inflated price, and leave other investors with losses once the hype stops. It singles out small companies with little public information as especially vulnerable.
In CS2 the same three steps apply:
- Accumulate. Buy up a cheap, overlooked item before anyone is paying attention.
- Promote. Talk it up on social media, video channels and chat groups.
- Dump. Sell into the demand the promotion created. When the organisers stop buying and talking, the price falls and the last buyers are left with the loss.
Cheap items that few people follow suit this best, because it takes little money to move their price. Our skin liquidity guide covers what makes an item thinly traded and how to check before you buy. Nor does anyone police skins the way exchanges police shares: Esports News UK called the skin economy "largely unregulated".
The Evil Geniuses Holo sticker pump in 2025
The sticker is the holographic version of Evil Geniuses' team sticker from the Stockholm 2021 Legends Sticker Capsule. Chinese players nicknamed it the "black egg" for its round, dark design. It had no story behind it: until the summer of 2025 it cost about £1, and Evil Geniuses had left Counter-Strike more than a year earlier, as Hotspawn pointed out.
| Date (2025) | Reported price | Outlet |
|---|---|---|
| Until the summer | About £1 | Esports News UK |
| August 2 | 222 copies sold at $34, against a $1.50 average a couple of months earlier | Dust2.us |
| September 10 | Well over $300 on the Steam Market | Hotspawn |
| September 12 | Peak of £349.40 | Esports News UK |
| A week later | About £19, down 95% | Esports News UK |
Dust2.us flagged the rise on August 6 and reported that a CS2 content creator suspected a pump and dump. On September 10, Hotspawn wrote that the sticker was in no higher demand than it had been months earlier, and that the Sticker | FURIA (Holo) | Stockholm 2021 and Sticker | Renegades (Holo) | Stockholm 2021 were climbing too. Two days later the price peaked, and over the next few days it collapsed.
How it was run, as reported
Chinese outlets including Tencent News and The Paper later reconstructed how the scheme was run.
The build-up. The Paper says the organisers chose the sticker because it was cheap and plentiful, so a limited budget could move a large market, and began by buying it up at low prices. In the meantime, it says, alternate accounts posted requests to buy the sticker, creating the impression that it was about to rise.
The promotion. About two months before the crash, posts began appearing online saying the "black egg" was about to take off. Videos and livestreams followed, in which the people behind it showed off their money and trading skills. The team bought without selling and kept putting out word that the price would rise (Tencent News).
The paid groups. Members-only groups promised insider information. The Paper describes an entry price of 888 yuan plus 50 of the stickers (other reports say either one), and Tencent News a membership system based on how many you held, so joining meant buying. According to The Paper, applicants who couldn't find enough stickers were offered them by the group owner, a way of moving stock out before the exit.
Why late buyers couldn't get out
The fall was fast, and CS2's trading rules kept many holders from reacting. Since Valve's October 2, 2024 update, items obtained from the in-game store, trade offers and the Steam Community Market carry a seven-day re-trade and re-market restriction. Since July 2025, CS2 items received in a trade have also been Trade Protected, which Steam Support says means they "cannot be consumed, modified, or transferred" for seven days. Our trade protection guide has the details.
So anyone who bought near the peak on the Steam Market or in a trade had to wait a week to sell, while the price fell roughly tenfold in the three days to September 15, according to The Paper. Tencent News pointed to that seven-day wait as the trap. A Market purchase can't be undone either: Steam's Market FAQ says every purchase is final.
Not every spike is a pump
Prices also jump for reasons anyone can check. An organisation that leaves Counter-Strike won't appear in another Major sticker set, and Dust2.us noted that such teams' Major stickers have risen sharply before for lack of supply. Valve's rule changes move prices on a bigger scale: the October 2025 trade-up update let five Covert (red) skins be traded up into a knife or gloves, and some Coverts multiplied in price within a day.
What separates those moves from the EG Holo is a public, dated cause, with similar items moving alongside. EG's departure was old news by 2025, and by early August its Holo had risen about 2,000% against roughly 200% for other items from the same Major, according to Dust2.us.
Signs of CS2 market manipulation before you buy
None of these proves manipulation alone, but the EG Holo showed all five:
- A cheap, quiet item multiplies in price with no patch, team news or tournament behind it.
- It outruns everything similar, such as other stickers from the same capsule or skins from the same collection.
- It is being sold to you. Videos, livestreams and chat groups talk up how high it will go, post screenshots of gains and urge you to get in before the next jump.
- Someone charges for tips. Paid groups collect their fees whatever the price does.
- The promoters make a show of only buying. A pump only pays when its organisers sell, so a public promise to hold should worry you rather than reassure you.
Before buying anything that has jumped, read its sales history over months rather than days, and check how many copies change hands at the new price. Our guide to reading price history covers volume, spread and outliers. And count the lock in: anything you buy on the Steam Market or receive in a trade can't be resold for seven days, and in September 2025 the EG Holo lost most of its value in less time than that.
Sources
- Pump and Dump Schemes — Investor.gov
- Evil Geniuses Stockholm holo prices have skyrocketed 2,000% this month — Dust2.us
- Evil Geniuses CS2 Sticker: Why are Stockholm 2021 Holos going up in price? — Hotspawn
- Counter-Strike skins market soars to new peak of $5.78 Billion — Esports News UK
- 三千块的“黑蛋”，孵出了一辈子的赛博案底 — Tencent News (in Chinese)
- 从十块炒到三千多的垃圾贴纸暴雷，CS市场迎来今年最大噩梦 — The Paper (in Chinese)
- Release Notes for 10/2/2024 — Counter-Strike 2
- Trade Protected Items — Steam Support
