In short
- Ben “Funky” Askren promoted a Solana meme coin on his social media on Wednesday, which was “rug pulled” not lengthy after.
- It seems to have come as a part of a paid promotion with Sahil Arora, the celeb coin creator behind Caitlyn Jenner’s notorious enterprise into crypto.
- Arora advised Decrypt Askren was conscious of the meme coin, however the influencer has a historical past of deceptive celebrities.
Former UFC star Ben Askren had been out of the hospital for lower than a day earlier than he promoted an obvious crypto rip-off—a Solana meme coin that “rug pulled” its buyers solely hours after it launched.
The token—dubbed “FUNKY,” Askren’s nickname in each wrestling {and professional} blended martial arts—appeared to come back as a part of a paid promotion via infamous celeb coin creator Sahil Arora, who has made a reputation for himself via related schemes.
Since late Could, Askren has been battling a extreme case of pneumonia, which required a double lung transplant earlier this month. The ex-Olympic wrestler’s situation was so dire that he claims to don’t have any reminiscence of your entire month of June and to have “died 4 instances.”
Luckily, his situation has considerably improved, and on Tuesday, he lastly left the hospital after virtually two months. Lower than 24 hours later, he promoted a Solana meme coin, which noticed little or no success and ultimately tanked. The token fell to zero after the token’s deployer offered their whole stash in a single clip, cashing out a mere $1,200.
Nick Vaiman, founder and CEO of blockchain analytics agency Bubblemaps, advised Decrypt the FUNKY launch and crash had all of the traits of a basic crypto “rug pull,” a kind of exit rip-off all too frequent within the buying and selling trenches.
“At all times play to win in life, you possibly can bounce again from something with conviction! $100 in SOL or USDC in case you play,” Askren’s submit on X reads, adopted by a customized hyperlink that reads “BenAskrenPlays” however results in a Pump.enjoyable meme coin web page.
Within the minutes and hours after the submit, most observers believed Askren’s X account had been hacked. “It’s important to be an actual [piece of shit] to make the most of a dude who virtually died a number of instances within the final 60 days,” one X consumer replied. “Whoever hacked Ben after every thing that has occurred lately is a SCUMBAG,” one other posted.
However that’s not what occurred, in line with Arora. The influencer and meme coin maker advised Decrypt he paid Askren an undisclosed quantity to advertise the token launch, and supplied receipts.
Askren’s “Funky” media staff didn’t reply to Decrypt’s request for remark, nor did he or his spouse reply to Instagram messages.
Arora grew to become recognized within the crypto world after launching a meme coin in reference to Olympic gold medal winner Caitlyn Jenner in Could 2024, who later claimed Arora owed her “a number of cash.” The Indian nationwide has additionally created tokens for rapper Wealthy the Child, singer Jason Derulo, and lots of extra.
Arora shared a screenshot with Decrypt of Instagram direct messages with Askren, which confirmed the coin creator telling Askren what to submit and stating he’d despatched Askren affirmation of a wire cost through electronic mail. Arora claims to have spoken to Askren on the cellphone and that the previous MMA fighter knew he was selling a meme coin.
However Arora is thought for tricking celebrities into selling meme cash with out their information.
The influencer advised the YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, higher often called Coffeezilla, in an interview in June that Jenner, for instance, thought she was endorsing a crypto undertaking, not an formally branded meme coin. Derulo, Arora mentioned, thought he was endorsing a crypto on line casino.
The meme coin promoter claims to have paid mid-five figures for Askren’s submit, and that the funds have been going to assist pay Askren’s hospital payments. The fighter’s medical insurance coverage firm famously refused to cowl his double lung transplant, resulting in an outpouring of help from the MMA group and donations from former boxing opponent Jake Paul and UFC boss Dana White.
Arora has additionally been beforehand accused of not following via with funds to celebrities for his or her posts. The coin promoter advised Decrypt the wire for Askren’s submit had already landed, however didn’t present any proof.
Askren’s submit continues to be reside on X on the time of writing. That is uncommon for an Arora-linked token. Prior to now, Arora’s meme coin antics have sometimes ended with the celeb claiming, both sincerely or not, to have been hacked or misled inside hours after which deleting the submit.
The Ben Askren meme coin FUNKY failed to achieve important traction amongst merchants, peaking at a market capitalization of simply $29,000. Against this, Jenner’s coin hit $22.41 million on its first day and $42 million on its second.
The FUNKY token flopped so badly that Arora advised Decrypt he misplaced cash on the scheme.
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