Blockchain security firm PeckShield has raised concerns about the legitimacy of a memecoin promotion posted on the official X account of American hip-hop star Cardi B on Monday, October 7.
PeckShield suspects that Cardi B’s account may have been compromised, cautioning users to avoid interacting with any links or wallet addresses shared in the post.
#PeckShieldAlert Cardi B’s X account @iamcardib seems to be compromised. Be cautious when interacting with any address/link in the post. pic.twitter.com/dL3NNhSL6K
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) October 8, 2024
The memecoin in question, WAP, is seemingly inspired by Cardi B’s hit song of the same name. It was launched on Monday, accompanied by its own X handle and a website. According to Dexscreener, the token currently boasts a market capitalization of $21.6 million. The post also included a video that appeared to show Cardi B endorsing the cat-themed WAP token, allegedly in response to rapper Iggy Azalea, who recently launched her own token, MOTHER, and labelled WAP a scam.
Typically, when celebrity accounts are hacked to promote fraudulent tokens, the posts are swiftly taken down. However, the promotion of WAP remained on Cardi B’s account five hours after the initial post, raising further suspicion. Interestingly, the account also shared another seemingly unrelated post featuring Cardi B’s image afterwards.
The rise of celebrity-endorsed memecoins in 2024 has led to significant scrutiny, as many such projects have failed to deliver meaningful progress. Instead, they often appear financially driven, raising concerns about their legitimacy.
For example, pop singer Jason Derulo faced backlash after promoting a memecoin named JASON, which plummeted by 72% shortly after its launch. Derulo, who introduced the token to his 3.5 million X followers, later blamed crypto promoter Sahil Arora for misleading him and vowed to make recovering the coin’s value his “life’s mission.” Derulo claimed to have invested $20,000 into the coin and publicly apologized for the fiasco.
Similarly, Iggy Azalea’s $MOTHER token, launched on May 28 on the Solana blockchain, was marred by insider trading allegations just days after its debut. Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps flagged the wallet “JEEt”, which received 127.5 million MOTHER tokens (over 10% of the total supply) immediately after launch. The insider allegedly distributed the tokens across multiple wallets and sold 89 million coins on May 29, leading to further controversy in the celebrity-backed memecoin space.
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