Introduction
The memecoin frenzy is all over the place. Both new and existing memecoins are being pushed by various teams and projects. In recent days, there is a new wave of celebrity-themed meme coins that have been launched on the Solana blockchain. With the popular names come a crowd of followers that want to purchase these celebrity tokens without trying to know who is actually behind the project. A promise of quick riches might look too good to miss. The potential to create instant wealth from tokens attached to popular figures is just as alluring.
There is no shortage of feelgood stories of crypto traders that turned $5 to $5000. Such stories often draw more admirers. In the midst of this celebrity meme coin madness stands a big danger - that you could loose all your money at the blink of an eye. So before you send all your SOL - your funds to an address in exchange for a token linked to a celebrity, its important to have a good knowledge of who or what is involved.
New celebrity meme coin in identity crisis - $jenner
In recent weeks, lots of new meme coins named after celebrities have emerged especially in the Solana blockchain. The selling point is often the personality behind the name. While some celebrity meme coins launched in the past such as $trump have done well in the market, it is worth considering who is actually behind the projects. After all, scammers are really working hard to get smarter and rug pulls are popular. Lets look at a recent controversial example - $jenner
This token $jenner was recently launched in the Solana blockchain. It was named after a popular American media personality Caitlyn Jenner. As at the time of writing, $jenner which has a 24hr trading volume of $22.33m has lost more than 60% of its value. It has more than 13k holders according to Birdeye. Now the boiling question is whether the celebrity that the token was named after has anything to do with it.
The crypto community have been drawn into a heated controversy as to the relationship (if any) between the celebrity and the newly launched token. The project owners want the crypto public to believe that Jenner the American is involved in $jenner the token. However, there are some strong voices that believe $jenner the token would end up another rug pull.
A user PaemayNFT on X (formerly Twitter) has come out to debunk any claims that $jenner is from the American media personality. In fact, he has come forward with a name of the actual person alleged to be behind the $jenner token - Sahil Arora.
According to PaemayNFT, Arora is a known indian scammer that has been involved with lots of other crypto new launches that turned up to be rug pulls. Arora seems to have links to popular figures across all sectors and uses same to launch fraudulent projects either with their name or making them look like partners to it.
The X user revealed that Arora has rugged a number of projects in recent times including $IGGYAZALEA and $ZAPEA. Here are some of the details in the X thread published by PaemayNFT:
Sahil previously hard rugged 2 coins on Solana for over 50 SOL before starting to shill http://pump.fun shitcoins with celebrity accounts. He is currently holding 314k USD from a presale for the launch of @IGGYAZALEA shitcoin. These funds are probably lost. source
Sahil also rugged ZelaaPayAE (Crypto Debit Card), $ZPAE and @ZelaaNFT, $NFTZ a NFT marketplace to buy and sell NFTs of celebrities.He rugged both of these projects with his friend @valentinoricci, an other Indian scammer. source
Whether Arora is behind the launching of $jenner or not is still open to controversy. The celebrity in the middle of all this has come out to say that she is involved in the launching of the meme coin. In fact, he made the following statement below on her official X account to say that $jenner is real
Here is Sophia Hutchins, my manager, rest assured. I have not been hacked and keep sending this to the moon. I’m out on the golf course enjoying my Sunday and I will not be going live in spaces today. My team is managing this launch. it is authentic. Keep it up source
Well even with the statements above, the crypto community is still largely skeptical about the identity of this new meme coin. In recent weeks, not a few celebrities have had their X accounts compromised and misleading messages forwarded by hackers. So there is still the element of belief that Caitlyn Jenner account was hacked. Which ever one is true, no one can say for sure right now.
How the community is involved
The number of fraudulent new meme coins in recent times is a cause for concern. When there is a rug pull as we have seen often, the innocent traders suffer. They watch helplessly as their hard-earned funds are washed away by scammers. For many victims, it has really been life-changing. So being vigilant should be the watchword.
Whether it is a new mem coin named after a president or top personality in the society, no one should throw caution to the wind. None of the safety rules change simply because a coin is named after a celebrity. Always do your own research first. And it is often best to invest what you can afford to loose.
Do not be a victim of the next rug pull just because a token is named after your model or any celebrity out there. If you get scammed and funds are stolen, you have yourself to blame.
Related links
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