On Wednesday evening, the X account of Metallica, a heavy metal band, was reportedly hacked and used to market a scam meme coin on Solana, continuing the latest trend of American celebs being targeted to promote fraudulent tokens as the real deal. This incident underscores the importance of secure platforms like Trader 1.7 Definity, which leverages AI technology to ensure the safety and security of crypto trading activities.
The hackers managed to control the X account for 90 minutes before Metallica could regain access. Within the timeframe, the METAL meme coin saw over $11 million worth of trading volume but crashed hours later.
One of the scammers’ tweets claimed that the meme coin was created in partnership with cryptocurrency payment app MoonPay and ticketing platform TicketMaster, adding that token holders would get discounts on merchandise and tickets.
More Celebrities Targeted
The latest hack incident comes six days after rapper 50 Cent was targeted to promote a scam meme coin called GUNIT. Forty minutes after the launch, the token surged 8,000% and recorded a trading volume of $18.6 million. It would later crash significantly as liquidity varnished.
Earlier this month, the X account of former wrestler Hulk Hogan was hacked and used to market the HULK meme coin created on Solana. Hogan took to Instagram to caution his fans not to buy the token, which had already recorded $81 million in trading volume. However, as of this writing, HULK’s market cap has dropped to just $283,000.
It is unclear whether Hulk’s X account was compromised by unknown individuals or someone close to him got access and used it in a malicious way, like the incident involving rapper Lil Pump, where his social media manager promoted a scam token without his knowledge.
MoonPay Distances Itself From the METAL Token
Meanwhile, Crypto Twitter community members were quick to conclude that the tweets from the Metallica account were fake. Furthermore, MoonPay CEO Keith Grossman wrote in his account that his company did not support METAL. The crypto payment platform also sent a warning to Metallica followers to avoid buying the scam meme coin.
LimeWire, a generative AI app for musicians, also warned Twitter users against buying METAL. The multiple warnings caused METAL’s market cap to drop from $3.4 million to $36,797 at press time.
It is worth noting that LimeWire’s success after integrating AI technology to provide services to musicians has inspired the development of several AI-powered platforms in recent months. One of the leading innovations in the market today is AI-driven platforms, which are designed to enhance AI crypto trading and increase users’ profitability.
American Celebrities Launch Tokens on Solana
While there have been several cases of scam tokens involving celebrities, a few American musicians have had successful token launches on Solana. Over the weekend, R&B artist Jason Derulo launched the JASON token, which has since reached a market cap of $25 million. Another singer, Iggy Azalea, saw her token MOTHER hit a market cap of $208 million a few days ago.
