The crypto community has uncovered the latest scam in the meme coin space. This time, the incident involves an overweight influencer known as Boogie2988 who endorsed and promoted a token named FADDY.

On June 26, Boogie2988, whose real name is Steven Williams, posted a YouTube video titled “FADDY” where he announced the token’s creation. The name of the coin is a way of teasing one of the core elements of Boogie’s popularity – his body weight and his unashamed way of displaying it publicly in his videos and content.

The meme coin was minted by using the popular Solana-based protocol Pump.fun, which allows developers, celebrities, and regular users to create this type of digital asset with just a few clicks.

Since the protocol makes it so easy to mint cryptocurrencies, it has been used for ill-gotten purposes many times and it has now gained a reputation for being the source of many scams as impersonators have used the image of well-known public figures to create tokens that they allegedly endorse.

Boogie2988’s Endorsement and Initial Hype

Boogie2988 is a well-known influencer. His YouTube channel boasts nearly 4 million subscribers while his posts on X immediately reach its 470,000+ followers. Hence, his endorsement of FADDY immediately generated buzz and attracted the interest of thousands of people.

He first published an X post on June 27 mentioning @pumpdotfun – the X handle of the Solana-based token minting platform – and claimed that he would soon “crush the internet”. Immediately, his followers connected the dots and knew that he was about to pump a new meme coin.

Also read: Meme Coin Mastermind Scams Caitlyn Jenner, Rich the Kid, & More With Pump-and-Dumps

Right after he released this post he started to publish disclosures that warned people against the risks involved in investing in this type of asset. However, they were intertwined with promotional content, which made it difficult for people to understand what he was trying to communicate.

For many, this was viewed as a way to comply with security laws but in a misleading way. Kind of when advertisers add a small print to their TV commercials that nobody can really read.

FADDY’s Meteoric Rise and Fall is Evidence of a Pump-and-Dump

According to data from DexScreener, FADDY’s initial price was around SOL 0.0000656. In the first hour, it jumped to as much as SOL 0.001800, resulting in temporary gains exceeding 2,000%. However, the price soon started to collapse until reaching its current level of SOL 0.00004128 – below its opening mark.

This dramatic decline in value quickly prompted the crypto community to question the legitimacy of the project and Boogie2988’s involvement in its promotion and true intentions with it.

Coffeezilla Enters the Scene and Exposes the Scam

The meme coin’s rapid boom-and-bust captured the attention of more people when the popular crypto investigator and YouTuber named “Coffeezilla” decided to take a peek at what happened to FADDY.

On June 28, he responded to Boogie2988’s posts and revealed that FADDY lost 90% of its value in just 24 hours. He also mentioned that the token attracted $3 million worth of trading volumes in just a few hours, suggesting that deep-pocketed traders were involved.

 

Moreover, Coffeezilla posted a video on his second YouTube channel, Voidzilla, revealing that the influencer was paid $10,000 to promote the token. Boogie2988 responded that he used the money for cancer treatment right after Coffeezilla explained to him that this sort of scheme is usual in the crypto space where people “rent” influencers’ images to pull a pump-and-dump scheme like FADDY.

This revelation raised questions about the ethical implications of paid promotions for potentially fraudulent crypto projects.

Williams responded to these accusations as follows:

“Fine, I’ll speak as succinctly and bluntly as I can. I knew zero of my fans would download Coinbase, (and) create an account, just to buy a s**t coin. It literally wasn’t going to happen. But a bunch of crypto millionaires might come in and waste .01% of their worth on a meme coin as a joke and they did.”

He went on to say that none of his fans lost any money on the token – a bold (and almost certainly false) claim – and stated that he did not care “if a multi-millionaire loses less than a percent of their holdings”, reasserting the notion that the token was only traded and bought by deep-pocketed individuals – also known as crypto whales.

Also read: How a Doxxed Hacker Live-Tweeted Stealing $2 Million From pump.fun

During a call with Coffeezilla, Boogie2988 also referred to the people that hired him as “Afroman’s managers”. Afroman is an American musician and comedian who has won Grammy Awards.

Coffeezilla’s involvement marked a turning point in the FADDY saga. Known for his in-depth investigations into crypto scams and financial frauds, Coffeezilla’s interest in the case lent credibility to the growing suspicions that Williams took advantage of the current hype surrounding meme coins to make a quick buck.

Boogie2988’s Attempts to Do Some Damage Control Backfire

In an apparent attempt to cover his tracks, Boogie2988 deleted several days’ worth of tweets related to the FADDY token scandal. However, vigilant community members had already archived much of the incriminating content.

 

This attempt to erase evidence only helped fuel further suspicion and criticism from the crypto community.

As the backlash intensified, Boogie2988 eventually backed down from his involvement in the crypto space. On June 30 he pinned a post to his X account stating that he had spoken with Coffeezilla, who advised him to distance himself from the crypto world. Boogie2988 wrote:

“I spoke with @coffeebreak_YT (Coffeezilla) tonight and he made it abundantly clear why I should back off of this whole bit and the crypto space. I always thought it was just going to be a goofy laugh and no one would actually get hurt. Thankfully it appears no one actually did.”

This apparent retreat from the crypto scene marked a significant shift in Boogie2988’s initial position as he seemed to acknowledge the potential harm that his involvement with FADDY could cause to his image, reputation, and the legal issues that could emerge as a result of the whole fiasco.

Lessons Learned: The Dangers of Celebrity-Endorsed Crypto Projects

The FADDY scam provides a stark reminder of the risks associated with investing in celebrity-endorsed cryptocurrencies. Some lessons can be drawn from this incident to avoid being victimized by this type of scam:

  1. Due Diligence is Crucial: Investors should always conduct thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency, regardless of who endorses it. It is important to know what the intention of the promoter is. If they have no positive track record of launching successful crypto ventures, and no roadmap to create an ecosystem around the token or build a community, the token is likely a scam.
  2. Understand How Pump-and-Dump Schemes Work: Rapid price increases followed by sharp declines are often indicative of market manipulation. In most cases, tokens that exhibit this type of behavior are not sound investments.
  3. Scrutinize the Influencer’s Motives: Consider whether an influencer has a financial stake in the project they’re promoting and if they’ve disclosed any payments received for their endorsement.
  4. Be Skeptical of Meme Coins: While some meme coins have gained legitimate traction, many are created solely for short-term profit at the expense of unwary investors.
  5. Consider the Platform: The use of platforms known for facilitating pump-and-dump schemes like pump.fun should be considered a red flag.

Also read: Iggy Azalea Pumps $MOTHER on X – Is the Meme Coin Ready for Another Leg Up?

The FADDY scam involving Boogie2988 highlights the urgent need for greater accountability and transparency in the promotion of cryptocurrency projects by influencers and celebrities. As the crypto market continues to evolve, both regulators and the community must develop mechanisms to protect investors from fraudulent schemes disguised as legitimate investment opportunities.

The FADDY scam involving Boogie2988 calls for greater accountability and transparency in the promotion of crypto projects by celebrities and influencers.

As the crypto market goes through a boom phase aided by the latest Bitcoin halving and positive macro conditions, investors should be more cautious than ever to pour money into projects with zero credentials and lots of red flags.