Solana-Based Memecoin Rug Pulled By McDonald’s Hacker, Market Cap Plummets 98%
August 21 2024 - 7:00PM
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The crypto ecosystem has seen a surge in memecoins and their
popularity over the past year. Still, the craze has ushered in a
wave of scams and rug pulls targeting unsuspecting investors. The
latest victim of this trend is the Solana-based GRIMACE coin, which
was the subject of a rug pull. GRIMACE Surges 400% After McDonald’s
Instagram Hack The incident began when
hackers accessed the official McDonald’s Instagram
account and used the platform to promote the GRIMACE
token. The hackers spread misinformation, falsely claiming
that McDonald’s had issued the GRIMACE memecoin on the Solana
blockchain. Related Reading: Here’s What’s Going On With The Shiba
Inu Price This had the desired effect, as investors rapidly piled
into the GRIMACE token, driving its market capitalization from a
modest $500,000 to a substantial $25 million in 30 minutes.
At its peak, the token’s price skyrocketed by nearly 400%, reaching
$0.02500 from an initial value of just $0.0005110. However, the
euphoria was short-lived. After the token’s rise, the anonymous
developers behind GRIMACE executed a classic rug pull, abruptly
abandoning the project and absconding with over $700,000 in
investor funds. The hackers even posted a message on the
McDonald’s Instagram bio, brazenly stating, “Thank you for the
$700,000 in Solana.” Solana Price Analysis On the other hand,
the Solana price has been relatively stable since Monday, trading
within a newly formed range between $138 and $142 after recovering
from the drop at the beginning of the month toward the $109 level,
which was the lowest point since March this year. Over the past 24
hours, SOL has recorded almost no changes compared to Tuesday’s
price, experiencing a slight 0.9% drop despite Bitcoin (BTC) and
Ethereum (ETH) surging nearly 3% and 2%, respectively. This
lack of price movement suggests little demand for the fifth-largest
cryptocurrency in the market over the past week, further evidenced
by a 14% drop in trading volume to $2.2 million in the last 48
hours, according to CoinGecko data. Related Reading: Tron Rises 24%
Amid New Developments – Will The Uptrend Continue? The
consolidation in Solana’s price is also concerning for bullish
investors, as the token has failed to overcome its key technical
indicators. Currently trading at $142, SOL has not breached its
50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs), which are
positioned at $143 and $151, respectively. Overcoming these
levels would be crucial for sustained price recovery and provide
important support floors in the event of potential corrections.
However, it is worth noting that after the broader cryptocurrency
market crash on August 5, SOL found significant support at the $129
level, representing a critical near-term defense for Solana’s price
action. Featured image from DALL-E, chart is from TradingView.com
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