On June 17, American rapper Waka Flocka Flame, whose real name is Juaquin James Malphurs, introduced his cryptocurrency, FLOCKA; however, the launch was overshadowed by allegations of insider trading.
Soon after FLOCKA’s release, a single wallet acquired nearly 40% of the token’s total supply and distributed it to multiple other wallets.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT quickly brought attention to this suspicious activity on X, suggesting possible market manipulation.
Did you know?
Want to get smarter & wealthier with crypto?
Subscribe – We publish new crypto explainer videos every week!
Further supporting these suspicions, on-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps reported insider activity following the launch.
Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman detailed that at 6 AM UTC, one wallet held 40% of the FLOCKA supply and distributed it across 60 wallets within 30 minutes. He stated:
This is no accident.
He also criticized the increasing broader trend of celebrities entering the crypto space, often without adequate knowledge and with dubious intentions.
ZachXBT also recalled Flame’s history with questionable crypto projects, highlighting his promotion of suspicious tokens and undisclosed paid endorsements in 2021 and 2022.
Furthermore, Flame claimed in an X space that he had been studying crypto since 2001, which conflicts with the fact that cryptocurrencies only emerged with Bitcoin in 2008.
Overall, Waka Flocka Flame’s foray into cryptocurrency casts a shadow over the launch of FLOCKA and highlights ongoing concerns about celebrity involvement in the crypto market.
In other news, another rapper, Lil Pump, has recently tattooed “Solana” on his forehead, mentioning he sold his SOL tokens.
Having completed a Master’s degree in Economics, Politics, and Cultures of the East Asia region, Aaron has written scientific papers analyzing the differences between Western and Collective forms of capitalism in the post-World War II era.
With close to a decade of experience in the FinTech industry, Aaron understands all of the biggest issues and struggles that crypto enthusiasts face. He’s a passionate analyst who is concerned with data-driven and fact-based content, as well as that which speaks to both Web3 natives and industry newcomers.
Aaron is the go-to person for everything and anything related to digital currencies. With a huge passion for blockchain & Web3 education, Aaron strives to transform the space as we know it, and make it more approachable to complete beginners.
Aaron has been quoted by multiple established outlets, and is a published author himself. Even during his free time, he enjoys researching the market trends, and looking for the next supernova.
