On Thursday, a cryptocurrency investor experienced a staggering loss of over $1 million within just one hour due to a dubious meme coin known as $MBAPPE. This coin was promoted through a hack targeting the X account of French soccer star Kylian Mbappé.
Investing Scenario and Immediate Loss
According to analytics firm Lookonchain, the investor created a new wallet and invested a total of 7,156 $SOL, valued at approximately $1.03 million, in a single transaction for the $MBAPPE token. However, the value of this investment plummeted dramatically, leaving it worth only about $9,200 shortly after the investment was made. This unfortunate incident highlights the risks associated with investing in poorly regulated or dubious cryptocurrencies.
A Brief Surge Followed by Collapse
The $MBAPPE token saw a brief surge in its price before a rapid crash within a matter of minutes. The chaos began when hackers gained access to Kylian Mbappé’s X account, using it to promote $MBAPPE alongside other memes. The platform used for creating this token is Pump.fun, which has gained traction for its ease and affordability in launching meme coins with minimal effort. While some social media users speculated whether these promotional posts were a result of hacking or if Mbappé was knowingly involved, the posts have since been deleted.
Profits Amidst the Chaos
Interestingly, amidst the chaos surrounding $MBAPPE, reports surfaced regarding other users who managed to profit from the situation. A Chinese journalist, Colin Wu, highlighted one user who invested 2 SOL—approximately $286—into the token. That user sold their holdings at the token’s peak, reaping a profit of around 1,398 SOL, which amounts to roughly $200,000.
History of Scams Involving Mbappé
This isn’t the first time Kylian Mbappé’s identity has been exploited for cryptocurrency scams. Back in 2019 and 2020, fraudsters misappropriated his image in online advertisements, promoting various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. These scams lured investors with false promises of rapid profits. In response to these unauthorized uses of his identity, Mbappé took legal action. In addition, the Financial Markets Authority of France reported over 1,100 similar scam complaints in 2018, resulting in substantial financial losses amounting to 55.5 million euros for affected investors.