Over the past weekend, the cryptocurrency community witnessed a surge of tokens bearing the name of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo suddenly appearing in the market. This event stemmed from circulating rumors that CR7 was about to launch his own memecoin, prompting many investors to rush in search of investment opportunities.
However, up to this point, there has been no official source or statement from Ronaldo confirming this information.
The most notable token in this wave is $CR7, inspired by Ronaldo’s familiar nickname. This token experienced a “roller coaster” journey in just 19 minutes:
- First 10 minutes: Market capitalization soared to $143 million.
- Next 9 minutes: Its value plummeted by 98%, turning many investors into victims of a classic “rug pull.”
This fierce volatility indicates clear signs of an organized manipulation campaign aimed at profiting from investor FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
According to on-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps, many influencers and KOLs on social media simultaneously promoted the CR7 token, only to suddenly delete their posts. Anonymous analyst 0xToolman outlined a possible scenario that may have occurred:
Stage 1: Building Trust
- Some influencers took advantage of the news about Kanye West launching the YZY token to “add fuel to the fire.”
- They spread rumors that Ronaldo would also be launching his own token.
Stage 2: Triggering FOMO
- Using their own social media accounts to create a crowd effect.
- Announcing a fake token along with a smart contract address.
Stage 3: Executing the Rug Pull
- As the money flowed in, the group behind the token quickly sold off.
- They withdrew all liquidity, causing the token’s price to collapse.
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Notably, while Ronaldo has been collaborating with Binance since 2022 to release four official NFT collections, most of these fake tokens appeared on the Solana network.
In addition to the $CR7 token, at least five other tokens with the same name were also launched in the market, but none exceeded a market capitalization of $1 million.
Cristiano Ronaldo is not the first star to have his name exploited in the cryptocurrency space. Similar cases have occurred with various other celebrities, from athletes to singers.
As of now, Ronaldo has not made any announcements on social media platforms regarding the release of a personal token. What fans can confirm are only the NFT collections released in collaboration with Binance.
