Rapper Waka Flocka Flame Faces Criticism Following Controversial Release of His Solana Meme Coin

Rapper Waka Flocka Flame Faces Criticism Following Launch of Solana Meme Coin
American rapper Juaquin James Malphurs, known as Waka Flocka Flame, is under scrutiny after launching a memecoin on the Solana blockchain network.
Taking to social media platform X, Waka Flocka Flame announced the release of the Solana-based token FLOCKA, providing its ticker symbol and contract address to his 1.8 million followers.
In a brief video, he excitedly declared, “We live right now.”
Concerns were raised by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who noted suspicious activity surrounding FLOCKA’s token supply. A new wallet, suspected to be funded through an exchange, quickly acquired 40% of the token’s supply and distributed it to various wallets.
Community members on X warned about potential selling pressure due to these actions.
Onchain data revealed that FLOCKA had been live for an hour before Waka Flocka Flame’s tweet, causing displeasure among some X users. One user criticized the lack of providing the contract address during the token’s initial launch, labeling it a “complete fail.”
After an initial surge in interest, FLOCKA’s price plummeted by 77% from its peak.
FLOCKA is among the many memecoins released by celebrities in the current trend of “celebcoins.” Rappers Iggy Azalea, Lil Pump, and former wrestler Hulk Hogan have also launched memecoins on Solana.
Criticism has been voiced by industry professionals, with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressing dissatisfaction with the celebrity trend in crypto.
Cryptocurrency scams have been prevalent on X, with analysts attributing a large portion of scams to scammers on the platform. Scam Sniffer, an anti-scam company on X, revealed that nearly $50 million is lost monthly due to account impersonation on X.com.
The confusion surrounding Elon Musk’s involvement in X and the controversial paid verification service may contribute to the public’s vulnerability to impersonation scams.
Binance co-founder Yi He raised concerns about the increase in cryptocurrency scams on X, questioning whether Musk would address the issue.
In 2024, several major companies and crypto influencers on X fell victim to scams, leading to fake promotions and announcements. In January, the US regulator SEC’s X account was hacked to falsely announce Bitcoin ETF approvals.