A handful of celebrity meme coins based on the Solana blockchain have seen their values plummet following their initial debut last month as community hype around the sector cools.
Some celebrities involved have stepped back from promoting the coins on social media, raising questions over whether they were a genuine play or an easy cash grab.
The list of celebrities that launched coins in June and the end of March includes Andrew Tate, Alexis Texas, Barron Trump, Jason Derulo, Lil Pump, Soulja Boy, and French Montana, among others.
Of those listed above, more than two-thirds have seen their values drop by over 90%, while the remaining have experienced declines between 28% and 88%.
Self-styled Web3 strategist and X user Slorg first compiled and posted the results on Thursday, revealing an average 94% decline for a list of 30 celebrity meme coins.
Rapper Iggy Azalea’s “Mother” token, listed on May 29, has shed 72% of its all-time high from June 6 to $0.23, falling to $0.06, data shows.
Controversial figure Andrew Tate’s coin “Daddy,” meanwhile, is down about 60%, having slid from its June 14 all-time high of $0.28 to just over $0.11. Daddy first launched on June 11.
Almost all celebrity meme coins have been released on Solana, where it is very straightforward to quickly create and release a token through Pump.fun.
Pump.fun allows users to create and launch tokens on the Solana blockchain with minimal effort. It simplifies the token creation process, enabling anyone to generate tokens with just a few clicks, which has contributed to the surge in new token launches on Solana.
In May of this year alone, nearly half a million Solana-based tokens were launched.
The market fervor has led to several instances of celebrities' social media accounts being hacked in an attempt by scammers to promote pump-and-dump schemes.
Recently, both Sydney Sweeny and Metallica had their social media compromised alongside singer Doja Cat and rapper 50 Cent.
In any case, celebrities significantly impact crypto markets, often driving substantial interest and investment through their endorsements, resulting in rapid value fluctuations.
Although the lack of stringent regulations enables celebrities to launch and profit from tokens with relative ease, legal actions for improper disclosures remain a potential risk.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair