Rapper Waka Flocka Flame Faces Backlash Over Debut of His Solana Meme Coin
American rapper Juaquin James Malphurs, known as Waka Flocka Flame, is under scrutiny following the controversial launch of his memecoin on the Solana blockchain network.
The Atlanta-based artist took to social media platform X to announce the release of the Solana-based token FLOCKA, revealing its ticker symbol and contract address to his 1.8 million followers in a brief video, where he exclaimed, “We live right now.”
However, the launch quickly attracted criticism as blockchain investigator ZachXBT pointed out suspicious activity surrounding the token’s supply. ZachXBT noted that a new wallet, likely funded through an exchange, swiftly acquired around 40% of the token’s supply and distributed it to different wallets.
Community members on X warned readers about potential selling pressure resulting from these actions. Onchain data disclosed that FLOCKA had been live for over an hour before Waka Flocka Flame’s tweet, causing discontent among some X users. One user criticized the lack of providing the contract address during the token’s initial surge, labeling the launch a “complete fail.”
Following the initial excitement, FLOCKA’s price plummeted by around 77% from its peak. FLOCKA is just one of many memecoins that have surfaced during the recent trend of “celebcoins.” Rapper Lil Pump even went to the extent of getting a tattoo of the word “Solana” on his forehead.
Despite the popularity of celebcoins, critics in the crypto industry have raised concerns. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed his dissatisfaction with the trend, stating his unhappiness about “this cycle’s celebrity experimentation.”
The rise of cryptocurrency scams on X has also been a cause for concern. Analysts attribute a significant portion of crypto scams to scammers on the platform. Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam company on X, revealed that nearly $50 million is lost each month due to account impersonation on X.com.
The confusion surrounding the new owner’s paid verification service may contribute to the vulnerability of the public to impersonation scams. Binance co-founder Yi He recently voiced concerns about the proliferation of cryptocurrency scams on X and questioned whether Musk would take action to address the issue.
Since the start of 2024, several X accounts of major companies and crypto influencers have fallen victim to scams to lure more customers into fake promotions. The US regulator SEC’s X account was hacked in January to issue a fake announcement on Bitcoin ETF approvals.