French soccer star Kylian Mbappé’s X account was hacked on August 29 to promote a fraudulent memecoin called MBAPPE.
Many users initially wondered if Mbappé was genuinely endorsing the token but most quickly suspected a hack. The removal of the posts confirmed these suspicions, but not before the damage was done.
One crypto investor watched over $1 million evaporate in just one hour after buying MBAPPE.
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After the fraudulent posts appeared on Mbappé’s account, MBAPPE’s value briefly surged, prompting investors to rush in. However, the coin’s value quickly crashed, resulting in losses for those who bought at the peak.
Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain revealed that an unfortunate investor created a new wallet and invested 7,156 SOL (about $1.03 million) in the MBAPPE token. Within an hour, the value of the investment dropped to just $9,200.
In contrast, another trader managed to make significant profits from MBAPPE. This individual invested 0.2 SOL ($29) in the token and secured a 4,330x return, selling it three minutes later for 866.16 SOL (approximately $125,160).
The token was created on Pump.fun, a platform on Solana that allows users to create and launch memecoins easily. This platform’s simplicity has made it popular among those looking to make quick profits from internet trends.
Similarly, the Instagram account of McDonald’s was recently hacked to promote a fraudulent Solana-based memecoin named after the restaurant’s mascot, Grimace.
Such incidents are a reminder of the risks involved in memecoins and the potential for huge financial losses, especially when influenced by unauthorized endorsements from high-profile accounts.
Gode is a Web3 Market Analyst who researches the most important industry events and interprets how they affect the wider Web3 space. Her formal education in media culture & digital rhetoric allows her to employ a methodical approach to evaluating critical Web3 news data, including large-scale events and the wider social sentiment within the ecosystem.
Gode is a mutilingual professional, having studied in multiple universities all across Europe. This allows her to have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to analyze Web3 social sentiments spanning different cultures and languages and, in turn, develop a much deeper understanding of how the Web3 space is growing within different communities. With the rest of her team, Gode works to identify crucial crypto news patterns and provide unbiased and data-driven information.
Gode’s passions include working and communicating with people, and when she’s not researching Web3 news, she spends her time traveling and watching true crime documentaries.
