- Hip-hop mogul 50 Cent allegedly caught in a multimillion-dollar crypto scam defrauding unsuspecting users in just 30 minutes.
- Novel “GUNIT” meme coin plummets to near-zero value as hackers exploit 50 Cent’s influence in a pump-and-dump scheme.
The social media account X of renowned rapper 50 Cent was allegedly compromised, leading to a multimillion-dollar meme coin scam, according to the artist himself.
What Happened: Curtis James Jackson III, famously known as 50 Cent, reported last week that his X account was exploited by hackers to execute a cryptocurrency pump-and-dump token scam.
The fraud involved a novel crypto token, “GUNIT,” which was used to lure investors and inflate its price. Eventually, the value was depleted, causing the token’s price to plummet to $0.00016.
On Tuesday, Jackson alerted his 32.8 million Instagram followers that his X account and website were compromised and a substantial amount of funds were siphoned off from the project.
“Whoever did this made $300,000,000 in 30 minutes,” Jackson said, emphasizing that he has “no association with this crypto.”
Dex Screener’s trading data of the GUNIT meme coin revealed that several wallet addresses sold substantial quantities of the token.
Four accounts sold over $100,000 of the meme coin following its promotion on the rapper’s X account. Jackson alleged that users were defrauded of more than $300 million as a result.
This incident is part of a recent trend of celebrities being linked with cryptocurrency launches, including Caitlyn Jenner, who created confusion in the industry with conflicting messages after the launch of her own token.
It’s also noteworthy that 50 Cent has a history with cryptocurrencies.
The rapper made a pioneering decision a decade ago to accept Bitcoin as payment for his album “Animal Ambition.”
This move, which seemed experimental at the time, has resulted in significant financial gains for the artist over the past decade.
In 2014, he accepted Bitcoin for his fifth album, accumulating around 700 Bitcoins. As of 2024, the value of Bitcoin has surged dramatically, making those Bitcoins worth an astonishing $48 million.
