The celebrity token frenzy seems to be the hottest topic of the week. The newly launched memecoins have been criticized by crypto community members as the tokens have been launched with massive controversy.
After a week or so of pumping and dumping, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an Investor Alert. However, the SEC’s warning didn’t stop more musicians from joining the crypto festival of Q2.
On Wednesday, the US SEC released an Investor Alert targeting memecoins. In the warning, the Commission alerted users about pump-and-dump and pre-sale schemes involving meme-based tokens.
The SEC explained that “fraudsters may create a memecoin and then tout it on social media.” After pumping the price and selling to make a profit, investors see most of their money gone as the price rapidly decreases.
SEC’s warning about memecoins pump-and-dump and pre-sale scams. Source:
The celebrity memecoins launch frenzy became a trend this past week. As a result, many mainstream media figures, influencers, musicians, and athletes have shown “interest” in the crypto space.
In most cases, these celebrities start engaging with the crypto community right before promoting their soon-to-be-launched memecoins. Nonetheless, the recent trend has been particularly controversial since these figures have, for the most part, worked with an alleged serial scammer.
Recently, celebrities and community members accused a man named Sahil Arora of allegedly orchestrating several pump-and-dump scams. Arora seemingly scammed investors and partners in every memecoin launch he’s been involved with.
Australian rapper Iggy Azalea launched MOTHER two days ago and claimed to have created the token to stop Arora from using her image on his scams. Moreover, Rich the Kid and Caitlyn Jenner have come out stating that the alleged scammer lied to them.
Now, more musicians have joined the crypto festival of memecoins while being accused of dumping their fans.
More Musical Acts To Headline Memecoinchella
On Wednesday, crypto sleuth ZachXBT accused famous rapper Lil Pump of participating in a pump-and-dump scam. According to the internet investigator, the rapper shared and quickly deleted a post promoting his memecoin after the token was dumped.
The post stated “lil or big pump” and tagged one of Arora’s accounts. Lil Pump answered the allegations, claiming to never have made a token and accusing Arora of scamming him and his fans. Moreover, he seemingly sent “proof” to the crypto detective to prove his innocence.
Lil Pump’s now-deleted post. Source:
In the early hours of Thursday, the rapper claimed to have taken control of his accounts and the memecoin. Moreover, he distanced himself from the alleged serial scammer. However, ZachXBT some screenshots of a conversation between Lil Pump’s team and the person managing the memecoin launch.
According to the images, Pump’s team was not aware of Arora’s track record, but as the investigator explained, he “still got partially paid for the scam.” Additionally, his team hid the paid promo tag, which is an X requirement. ZachXBT pointed out that the rapper also did the same in 2022.
Throughout the night, the internet sleuth listed several other artists who joined the crypto scam headlines. The list includes American rapper MoneyBagg Yo, Trippie Redd, and Davido.
Giving A Platform To Scammers
American-Nigerian singer and producer Davido was, alongside Lil Pump, the biggest topic on Wednesday night. The singer promoted his Davido token alongside figures inside the crypto space.
Crypto trader Ansem held an X Space session with the music producer to discuss his project. According to online reports, the singer dumped over half of his DAVIDO holdings while on the X session.
Lookonchain that Davido made over 2,783 SOL, worth around 473,000, after selling 121.8 million DAVIDO tokens. Per the post, the singer received 7.5 SOL as start-up capital, which he used to buy 20.3% of the memecoin’s total supply.
The community wasn’t pleased with the crypto trader’s involvement in the incident. As a result, an important discussion was brought up by several community members. Many pointed out that platforming individuals, celebrity or not, who seemingly have no real interest in the space is predatory and dangerous.
As by ZachXBT, “leading the spaces provides credibility to them” and gives “celebs the platform to do this to people repeatedly.”
Solana (SOL) is trading at $166.46 in the 3-day chart. Source: SOLUSDT on
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Rubmar is a writer and translator who has been a crypto enthusiast for the past four years. Her goal as a writer is to create informative, complete, and easily understandable pieces accessible to those entering the crypto space. After learning about cryptocurrencies in 2019, Rubmar became curious about the world of possibilities the industry offered, quickly learning that financial freedom was at the palm of her hand with the developing technology.
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From a young age, Rubmar was curious about how languages work, finding special interest in wordplay and the peculiarities of dialects. Her curiosity grew as she became an avid reader in her teenage years. She explored freedom and new words through her favorite books, which shaped her view of the world. Rubmar acquired the necessary skills for in-depth research and analytical thinking at university, where she studied Literature and Linguistics. Her studies have given her a sharp perspective on several topics and allowed her to turn every stone in her investigations.
In 2019, she first dipped her toes in the crypto industry when a friend introduced her to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she started to dive into the depth of the industry. As Rubmar began to understand the mechanics of the crypto sphere, she saw a new world yet to be explored.
At the beginning of her crypto voyage, she discovered a new system that allowed her to have control over her finances. As a young adult of the 21st century, Rubmar has faced the challenges of the traditional banking system and the restrictions of fiat money.
After the failure of her home country’s economy, the limitations of traditional finances became clear. The bureaucratic, outdated structure made her feel hopeless and powerless amid an aggressive and distorted system created by hyperinflation. However, learning about decentralization and self-custody opened a realm of opportunities. Cryptocurrencies allowed her to experience financial control for the first time and expand her financial education.
Moreover, the peculiar nature of the crypto community sparked Rubmar’s curiosity about the other layers of the industry. As a result, she found a particular interest in discovering the diverse perspectives of investors, market watchers, experts, and developers. Her attempts to better understand the crypto space made her realize the strong links of the community with other industries, enriching her perspective of the sector. As someone who spends most of her day online, Rubmar enjoys finding the points where the crypto world meets with her other passions and hobbies –or her favorite memes.
In her free time, she usually finds joy in different art forms. As a child, she enlisted in every extra-curricular activity in her hometown, including music classes, dancing, jewelry making, and the local chorus. Despite her many attempts to learn different instruments, Rubmar only knows how to play the xylophone, which she played for 7 years in her school’s marching band.
She also has a passion for learning new languages and cultures, having set the goal to learn another six languages – currently attempting to learn Italian and Korean. Scrapbooking, paper crafting, and bookbinding are her biggest interests outside of work, constantly taking classes and attending workshops to learn new techniques. The rest of her free time is spent stressing over football matches and transfer market news or feeding cats –hers or stray.
In summary, Rubmar seeks to present entertaining and educational pieces to be enjoyed by everybody, aiming to report on the latest news and offer a unique perspective while adding a meme or a pun whenever possible.
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