Solana

Traders have reportedly lost millions of dollars after the X account of soccer star Kylian Mbappé was hacked on Aug. 29.
Multiple reports <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13791663/Kylian-Mbappes-X-account-HACKED-Real-Madrid-star-bizarre-posts-Lionel-Messi-Tottenham-Man-United-free-transfer-2028.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null">indicate</a> that the hacker used Mbappé’s account to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency token, promising to “double” any tokens sent to a specific address. The post caused the market cap of the so-called Kylian Mbappé (MBAPPE) token to surge to $460 million before it plummeted to less than $100,000. One trader lost over $1 million on the fraudulent scheme. The unknown trader spent over $1 million worth of Solana (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null">SOL</a>) tokens to buy the fake MBAPPE token, according to a Lookonchain X post on Aug. 29.
The onchain intelligence firm <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1828981144341360747" rel="null" target="null" text="null">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>
 “Someone created a new wallet and spent 7,156 $SOL($1.03M) to buy a #MEMEcoin named $MBAPPE in a single transaction, which is now only worth $9.2K. This person lost more than $1M in just 1 hour!”
</blockquote>
<figure>
 <img alt="Millions lost as Mbappé’s hacked account promotes $460M crypto scam" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/01919e0b-9757-7537-8def-b64eeda8244d">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Mbappe trader, &gt;
 Mbappe trader, $1 million buy order. Source: Lookonchain million buy order. Source: Lookonchain
 
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The massive loss marks the latest devastating event related to scam celebrity-related cryptocurrencies. Earlier in August, a President Trump-themed memecoin, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-trumpcoin-crashes-95-crypto-market-downturn" rel="null" target="null" text="null">TrumpCoin (DJT) saw a 95% decline</a>, amid a wider crypto market downturn
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/gavin-wood-web3-cryptocurrency-ethereum-fee-free-transactions" rel="null" target="null" text="null">Gavin Wood’s biggest hope: Free crypto transactions and Web3 tech worldwide</a>
<h2 id="crypto-com-warns-against-scam-token">Crypto.com warns against scam token</h2>
The trader bought $1 million worth of the scam coins shortly after Mbappé’s X account was hacked and posted an endorsement of the fake cryptocurrency.
<figure>
 <img alt="Millions lost as Mbappé’s hacked account promotes $460M crypto scam" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/01919e1b-d0ae-713e-a364-d78db66cfedd">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Kylian Mbappé, scam token endorsement. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/30140689/mbappe-twitter-hacked-posts-man-utd-transfer-ronaldo-messi/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null">TheSun</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The hacker’s scam token endorsement has since been deleted from X.
Some of the world’s most notable crypto firms have warned against the scam token, including the world’s 13th largest <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/centralized-vs-decentralized-crypto-exchanges" rel="" target="_self" text="null">centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX)</a>, Crypto.com.
The exchange warned traders not to fall for the fake Mbappe token, in an Aug. 29 X <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/cryptocom/status/1829024550383673723" rel="null" target="null" text="null">post</a>.
<figure>
 <img alt="Millions lost as Mbappé’s hacked account promotes $460M crypto scam" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/01919e1c-35fa-7061-9eff-dcb201535ebb">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Warning against scam Mbappe token. Source: Crypto.com
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-green-monthly-close-64-3k" rel="null" target="null" text="null">Can Bitcoin get a green monthly close above $64.3K?</a>
<h3 id="not-all-mbappe-traders-took-a-loss">Not all Mbappe traders took a loss</h3>
Despite being a scam token, some of the savvier Mbapppe coin traders made a large profit.
An unknown trader made nearly $124,000 in profit on the scam coin, noted pseudonymous trader Yet, in an Aug. 29 X post:
<blockquote>
 “A guy that bought on @KMbappe scam token $MBAPPE turned $28 into literally $124k. He caught it at $80k market cap.”
</blockquote>
 
<figure>
 <img alt="Millions lost as Mbappé’s hacked account promotes $460M crypto scam" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/01919e1c-b203-7360-8be8-e3a985669417">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Savvy Mbappe trader’s wallet. Source: Coinstats
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The savvy trader cashed out $126,000 worth of Solana tokens shortly before the Mbappe token’s price collapsed, according to Coinstats <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://coinstats.app/address/6ZDdVLFc2CRaPUwUGnfUsmXr32EBWoNaM9Axf5LWUjc6/" rel="null" target="null" text="null">data</a>.
 Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bitcoiners-all-in-trump-since-bitcoin-2024-getting-risky/" rel="null" target="null" text="null">Bitcoiners are ‘all in’ on Trump since Bitcoin ’24, but it’s getting risky</a>

Millions lost as Mbappé’s hacked account promotes $460M crypto scam

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