According to recent Instagram posts from Water memecoin, Ronaldinho and Messi shilled $WATER to their 76.6M and 504M followers, respectively. The announcements were met with mixed feelings as the crypto community learned that insiders control over 30% of the token’s supply.
Also read: Solana meme coin ‘Water’ soars 350% after Messi’s Instagram post
Crypto traders have expressed their surprise that the Water memecoin received the support of two legendary football characters. According to the memecoin’s official Instagram page posts, Messi and Ronaldinho had endorsed $WATER to their combined fanbase of over 570 million. On-chain observer Moon warned that this was a terrible move for Messi, while crypto detective ZachXBT linked Ronaldinho to previous Web3 scams.
Water memecoin price skyrockets after celebrity endorsements
Coingecko’s charts revealed a 158% spike in WATER’s price after Messi’s July 8 post on Instagram and another 38.8% rise an hour after Ronaldinho’s post. According to Coingecko data, $WATER’s 21.6% price increase in the last 7 days outperformed the global crypto market, which fell 2.9%.
According to crypto enthusiast Crown Akinfolurin, $WATER was arguably the first meme token to pull this stunt and get “hyped by such big names.” He congratulated those who bought $WATER during the dip before the price pump inspired by Ronaldinho’s post doubled their investments. Nonetheless, Akinfolurin warned that $WATER investors could be headed for ‘a big wreck’.
Messi shilling $WATER on his his instagram story and pump the price 400% in 1 hr.
Is this real or another pump and dump shit. Stay cautious boys. pic.twitter.com/e1sSTTmAzW
— Ponga (@0xPonga) July 8, 2024
NFT and crypto trader Jaim believed that $WATER had achieved something other memecoins had not, including giving a $300K donation to provide clean water for the needy. BlockTalks also agreed with $WATER’s mission to solve real-world problems by leveraging Web3 technology.
According to the BlockTalks community, $WATER is planning more marketing campaigns as it burned over 13 billion coins to create scarcity.
Memecoin traders debate $WATER’s legitimacy
The charity-focused memecoin was presented to the crypto community as a clean and ethical cryptocurrency that operated on transparency and fairness. However, crypto YouTuber Ajay Kashyap raised concerns over the legitimacy of the memecoin. He referred to it as another celebrity pump & dump after its price temporarily surged 400% following Messi’s Insta post.
Another Crypto trader, Nana Yaw, also warned that investors could easily lose their money after disclosing that the team behind $WATER had created the nearly obsolete $BEER token. According to self-proclaimed memecoin addict Skillerr, it was also difficult to determine whether Messi’s support was a scam, a hack, or just Messi ‘having some fun.’
Notably, data from Solscan revealed that the top 10 $WATER token holders controlled over 30% of the total supply, which Memecoin Degens perceived as a red flag.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Collins J. Okoth
