Rapper admits to promoting fraudulent projects
Soulja Boy has publicly apologized for promoting dozens of cryptocurrency and NFT projects that blockchain investigator ZachXBT identified as scams back in 2023. The rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, posted a statement on X early Monday morning addressing the allegations that have been circulating for some time now.
He claims he was unaware of the fraudulent nature of the projects at the time. “I want to be clear and transparent,” Soulja Boy wrote. “I had no knowledge that a scammer named Sahil was involved or paying me to promote anything fraudulent. At the time, I was doing paid promos without understanding the crypto/NFT space the way I do now.”
It’s interesting how he frames this as a learning experience. He says this happened years ago, and he’s learned a lot since then. But I think there’s more to it than just ignorance.
The scale of the promotions
According to ZachXBT’s investigation from April 2023, Soulja Boy promoted crypto and NFT drops at least 73 times since March 2021. The investigator found that 16 of the NFT collections the rapper endorsed later became scams or failed ventures. That’s a pretty significant number when you think about it.
One example that stands out is RAPDOGE, a token Soulja Boy mentioned several times in mid-2021. On July 19, 2021, he tweeted: “let’s pump $RAPDOGE to $.000001 and let’s get all our friends in on this, are you with me lilyachty.” The project rug-pulled just hours later, after receiving promotional pushes from other celebrities like Lil Yachty and Quavo.
The RAPDOGE token is now defunct, and investors lost money when liquidity was withdrawn shortly after that promotional push. It’s one of those situations where you wonder how much due diligence was actually done.
Charity projects turned fraudulent
Two particularly troubling cases involved projects called Orion and The Life Token. These allegedly used cancer and suicide prevention charities as a way to pump their prices. Within one month of promotion, Orion rugged and its Twitter account was deleted. The Life Token was abandoned in early 2022.
That’s perhaps the most concerning part – using charitable causes as a front for fraudulent activity. It shows a certain level of calculation that goes beyond simple ignorance.
Another project called Flokinomics fraudulently claimed connections to Elon Musk and paid for media promotion to appear legitimate. Its liquidity was eventually taken away too.
Financial incentives and regulatory issues
ZachXBT estimates that Soulja Boy earned more than $730,000 from crypto and NFT promotions during the period under review. That’s not an insignificant amount, which makes the “I didn’t know” defense a bit harder to swallow.
The rapper also had issues with the SEC, which filed a complaint accusing him and several other celebrities of unlawfully promoting Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT). The SEC alleged these promotions failed to disclose that the celebrities were being compensated for their endorsements.
Other celebrities mentioned in similar contexts include Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Akon, and Ne-Yo. It seems this was a broader pattern during the crypto hype period.
A pattern in celebrity crypto promotions
Soulja Boy isn’t alone in facing criticism for crypto promotions. Logan Paul’s Cryptozoo project faced legal action, though a US district judge recently upheld the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against him. The lawsuit alleged Paul promoted an NFT-based game that promised profits through breeding digital animals, but the project never fully launched.
These cases highlight a recurring problem in the crypto space. Celebrity endorsements can drive significant attention and investment, but they often come with limited accountability. The line between genuine enthusiasm and paid promotion gets blurred, and followers can get hurt.
Soulja Boy concluded his apology by saying he takes responsibility for not doing deeper due diligence back then. “Growth is learning from mistakes,” he wrote. Whether that’s genuine growth or just damage control is something only time will tell.
What’s clear is that the era of casual celebrity crypto endorsements might be changing. Regulatory scrutiny is increasing, and followers are becoming more skeptical. Perhaps that’s a good thing for everyone involved.
