Zoltan Vardai11 hours agoInsider trading allegations hit Khamzat Chimaev’s Smash tokenThe distribution of Smash tokens raises insider trading concerns, adding another red flag to celebrity memecoins.6625 Total views6 Total sharesListen to article 0:00NewsOwn this piece of crypto historyCollect this article as NFTJoin us on social networksMost of Khamzat Chimaev’s Smash (SMASH) cryptocurrency is held by insiders and developer wallets, raising insider trading concerns for yet another celebrity memecoin, according to onchain investigator ZachXBT.
Smash is a Solana-based memecoin launched by the popular mixed martial artist and UFC contender Chimaev.
Up to 78% of the Smash token supply was bought by insiders and developer-related wallets, leading to price manipulation concerns, according to an analysis by the popular onchain investigator. In a July 4 X post, ZachXBT said:“Khamzat your team is incompetent as you directly linked the team wallets with the insider wallets buying up 78%+ of the supply. Why do all of you instantly nuke your reputation with meme coin scams?”
The Smash token fell over 91% during the past day to trade above 0.004 Solana (SOL), or $0.53 per token, falling from its all-time high of 0.01 SOL, Dexscreener data shows.SMASH/SOL, 1-day chart. Source: Dexscreener
Insiders with large token holdings can single-handedly tank a cryptocurrency’s price by market-selling a large percentage of the holdings.
Cointelegraph has approached Chimaev’s team for comment.
Related:$100M Bitcoin liquidated as BTC drops: Will ETF investors panic sell?Chimaev’s team bought up to 78% of the supply: ZachXBT
According to ZachXBT’s analysis, at least 71% of the supply can be directly linked to insider wallets that were funded by the same Ethereum address that funded the Smash token’s developer address on Solana.
The onchain investigator wrote:“Using timing analysis confirms 71% insider and dev team wallets is directly linked as they were funded by same address on Ethereum.”
The 24 addresses were funded with a total of 86.2 SOL worth $11,500. These same addresses have bought up 712 million Smash tokens, or 71.2% of the entire supply, according to ZachXBT.
After buying 71% of the supply, the 24 addresses have distributed them across smaller addresses, the analyst’s chart below shows.SMASH distribution. Source: ZachXBT
Related:Justin Sun offers to buy German gov’t’s $2.3B Bitcoin stack to minimize market impactCelebrity memecoins are hurting the crypto industry
While some are welcoming the launch of celebrity memecoins as a sign of mainstream adoption, the notoriously poor price performance of these celebrity tokens is damaging the industry’s reputation.
Within the first week of their launch, the majority of celebrity-backed memecoins fell at least 66%, including the JENNER, DAVIDO and RICH meme tokens.
American singer Jason Derulo’s token was also hit with controversy at the end of June, when analytics firm Bubblemaps claimed that the singer sold thousands of dollars worth of his JASON token despite claims that he “WILL NEVER SELL.”
The Daddy Tate (DADDY) memecoin, launched by controversial former kickboxing champion Andrew Tate, was also hit by insider trading allegations by Bubblemaps, June 12 X post:“Insiders bought 30% of the supply at launch before Andrew Tate started to promote it on X.”
Despite the allegations, Tate’s token surpassed Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER token in terms of market capitalization on June 13.
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