The Wild West of cryptocurrency simply witnessed one other saloon brawl, this time courtesy of wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and his ill-fated meme coin, HULK. Hogan allegedly rug pulled his buyers, wiping out thousands and thousands in a digital bodyslam.
Hulk Hogan Crypto Crash – What Went Unsuitable?
The story goes like this: HULK tokens have been driving excessive, with a market cap of $17 million, thanks partially to a social media blitz on Hogan’s accounts. Traders have been giddy, primed for a moonshot.
Then, faster than a leg drop off the highest turnbuckle, Hogan’s posts selling HULK vanished into skinny air, taking the token’s worth with them. HULK crashed sooner than a folding metal chair, plummeting to a measly $11,000. Traders have been left reeling, their desires of monetary bliss shattered like glass jaws in a metal cage match.
Hogan claims he by no means approved the promotional posts within the first place. Was it a rogue social media supervisor channeling their inside “Hollywood Hogan?” A case of mistaken identification? The plot thickens sooner than immediate mashed potatoes.
Hulk Hogan’s social media accounts & web site promoted a $HULK crypto token in the present day, leaping on the latest celeb memecoin development
it pumped huge, thousands and thousands of {dollars}, & then dumped
all of the posts at the moment are deleted. there’s a brand new submit now claiming that the posts weren’t from him pic.twitter.com/hDuYVLgNQu
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) June 6, 2024
Savvy crypto fans smelled a rip-off from the get-go. Incriminating proof surfaced – recycled movies from December selling a karaoke occasion, and a obtrusive lack of endorsement on the opposite platforms linked to Hulk Hogan. This wasn’t a strategic physique slam, it was a piledriver onto investor belief.
Celeb Memecoin Fallout
Hogan’s supposed rug pull isn’t an remoted incident; it’s the most recent physique blow in a string of celebrity-endorsed meme coin meltdowns. Simply weeks in the past, TV character Caitlyn Jenner pulled the same stunt along with her Jenner coin, leaving followers feeling bamboozled. Boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather additionally entered the ring. After hyping the token “FLOYD” on social media, Mayweather abruptly deleted his promotional posts, sparking fears of one other potential rug pull.
The one one seemingly resistant to the takedown is Iggy Azalea, whose MOTHER coin continues to be being aggressively promoted to her thousands and thousands of followers. However with the stench of movie star shilling hanging heavy within the air, buyers are proper to be cautious.
Associated Studying: New York Atty. Normal Goes After Crypto Crooks In $1 Billion Rip-off Bust
Buterin Slams Shady Memecoin Initiatives
This complete fiasco has drawn the ire of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who’s about as impressed with these memecoins as a referee is with a chair shot. He lambasted these initiatives for his or her lack of innovation and blatant makes an attempt to take advantage of followers for a fast buck.
I’m feeling fairly sad about with “this cycle’s movie star experimentation” to date.
“Financialization as a method towards an finish”, I can respect if the top is worthy (healthcare, open supply software program, artwork, and so forth). Financialization *as the ultimate product*, 🤮
Ashton and Mila’s…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 5, 2024
So, what’s the takeaway from this crypto cage match? If a star is shilling a meme coin with guarantees of riches past your wildest desires, method it with the identical skepticism you’d have in direction of a wrestler promising world peace.
Featured picture from EL PAÍS, chart from TradingView
