American Rapper Waka Flocka Flame Jumps on the Meme Coin Bandwagon

full version at beincrypto

American rapper Juaquin James Malphurs, known as Waka Flocka Flame, has launched his own meme coin, FLOCKA. This new meme coin, released on the Solana blockchain, was announced to his 1.8 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.

In his post, Waka Flocka Flame shared both the ticker and contract address, sparking widespread interest.

On-Chain Investigators Discover Insider Activities

Subsequently, the rapper revealed plans for an X space. At this event, he will burn some tokens and announce airdrops exclusively for FLOCKA holders. Additionally, he hinted at an exclusive pool party in Vegas for token holders, mixing investment with entertainment.

However, the launch soon faced scrutiny. Crypto investigator ZachXBT highlighted potential insider trading. He noted that a new wallet had acquired about 40% of the FLOCKA supply just before the public announcement.

This wallet then distributed these tokens across over 60 different wallets. On-chain analysis firm Bubblemaps supported these claims, visually tracing the token distribution from a Solana wallet identified as Ag41g.

FLOCKA Token Cluster. Source: Bubblemaps

Moreover, ZachXBT revealed Waka Flocka Flame’s previous involvement in undisclosed paid promotions on the Ethereum blockchain during the 2021-2022 bull cycle. Community members on X have raised concerns and added context to the rappers’ posts on X.

“‪WakaFlocka has a history of promoting rug pull projects, as uncovered by ZachXBT investigations,” X context says.

The trend of celebrities entering the meme coin arena is not isolated. Recently, Andrew Tate made headlines for burning over 400 million DADDY meme coins, valued at nearly $114 million on paper. However, the actual market liquidity of these tokens was around $2.5 million.

The scenario involving Andrew Tate also includes allegations of insider trading. Bubblemaps detected suspicious transactions before Tate’s promotional activities.

Furthermore, similar insider trading patterns have been observed with other celebrity-endorsed meme coins, such as Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER token. Not to mention, the launch of Caitlyn Jenner’s JENNER token last month was also controversial.

These developments highlight the complexities and potential pitfalls of the meme coin market, especially those promoted by celebrities. While the involvement of high-profile figures can temporarily boost a token’s value, it also introduces risks of market manipulation.