The METAL Solana meme coin was promoted on the Twitter account of the heavy-metal titans, resulting in a brief surge that was followed by a sudden collapse.
The Twitter account of the heavy metal band Metallica was reportedly hijacked late Tuesday and used to promote a Solana meme coin. This incident is part of a recent trend in which celebrities are being targeted to share pump-and-dump hoaxes that are purportedly authentic.
Despite the fact that the tweets, which included a Twitter Spaces audio call and replies to other users, were purged within 90 minutes, the pimped METAL token experienced a trading volume of over $10 million before experiencing a severe collapse.
The token was purportedly being offered in partnership with Ticketmaster, a ticketing behemoth, and MoonPay, a crypto payments platform, according to the purported fraudsters. They also claimed that holders would be able to use the token to receive discounts on tickets and merchandise.
The incident occurred less than a week after a comparable scheme was directed at the followers of rapper 50 Cent (also known as Curtis Jackson). Earlier this month, the legendary pro wrestler Hulk Hogan was also targeted.
Crypto Twitter promptly and extensively surmised that the messages were false, given the frequency of such schemes. The platform did not support METAL, as MoonPay President Keith Grossman stated at the outset.
The fraudsters replied to Grossman by stating, “We have been in contact with your team via email.” MoonPay subsequently issued a direct warning on Twitter regarding the fraud, referencing a popular song by the heavy metal titans. The Tweet stated that anyone who is advertising the METAL token is “not the master of puppetry, they’re the master of schemes.”
During its fleeting period in the limelight, the METAL token experienced a price surge of up to $0.003 and a trading volume exceeding $10 million from 30,000 transactions. Its value has plummeted to less than $0.00007, nearly a complete collapse. At present, the token’s total market capitalization is a mere $65,000.
It was unsurprising that Twitter users capitalized on the opportunity to make Metallica puns. The LimeWire account, which was previously a file-sharing service that harassed Metallica and other bands and musicians before being shut down in 2010 for facilitating music infringement, participated in the incident.
“Hello Lars, is this you?” LimeWire tweeted, referencing the vociferous Metallica drummer and co-founder Lars Ulrich, who previously expressed his disapproval of music sharing services.
After initially relaunching as a music NFT marketplace, the revived LimeWire brand has evolved into a generative AI platform for musicians and other artists, complete with its own $LMWR token.
The swindle that targets the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees is merely the most recent in a series of celebrity-themed pump-and-dump schemes for Solana meme coins. In recent weeks, numerous luminaries have introduced their own official tokens, which has significantly clouded the waters.
Sahil Arora, a crypto promoter who has previously been involved in disputed meme coin launches with personalities such as Iggy Azalea and Caitlyn Jenner, reportedly collaborated with singer Jason Derulo to introduce his own JASON token earlier this week.
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