Kate Jenner launched the Jenner token nearly a month ago, and the frenzy for celebrity meme coins continues. This time, the iconic heavy metal band Metallica has joined the list of public figures for the Solana token. However, the band’s involvement in the cryptocurrency industry is another attempt to target investors after the X account hack.
Based on Solana’s METAL takeover of cryptocurrency
The iconic heavy metal band Metallica recently announced a collaboration with the popular video game Fortnite. This collaboration seems to aim at bringing the band’s music to new music enthusiasts.
Nevertheless, the failure of the Metallica X account “joining” another community “attempt” has overshadowed this announcement. On Tuesday night, the account shared a post offering fans a token based on Solana.
The post announced the launch of METAL, which is claimed to be a collaboration between the band and Ticketmaster. The token is described as a “dynamic new token on the Solana blockchain that will change the way you experience events and shop online.”
Unlike other celebrity meme coin scams, this token offered practicality from the beginning. Users who purchased concert tickets using METAL would receive an exclusive 25% discount from Ticketmaster. Metal holders would also have the opportunity to win free tickets through an “exclusive airdrop.”
The “X Mail” announced three “rare metal tokens Xbox Series X consoles” signed for token holders. Additionally, it promised that the METAL token would be “seamlessly integrated into your shopping experience, powered by Solana’s reliability, and enabling easy transactions.”
The trading price of Solana (SOL) in a three-day chart is $139. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView
Token Master or Illusion Master?
Fans of Metallica and cryptocurrency investors quickly became wary of these posts. Users began to debate whether the announcements were fake and whether the account had been hacked. An X user stated that the band would not “ruin their reputation by launching junk coins.”
Although users were initially skeptical, several fell into a well-orchestrated scam. As pointed out by a community member, the graphics of these posts and the posts themselves were “well done.” The attackers also assured users that METAL was not a scam and that the band “will be involved for the long term.”
The hackers also claimed that the cryptocurrency payment company MoonPay was working with the band. However, the company quickly denied their involvement, stating that the responsibility for the hack was not the puppet master but the “scam master.”
As pointed out by an X user, the market value of this Solana-based token exceeded $2 million. However, after the band regained access to the X account and deleted the promotional posts, it quickly plummeted.
Nevertheless, one investor managed to become a token master. Online reports show that a trader turned a $3,380 investment into $24,600. The “lucky” investor purchased these tokens at a market value of $50,000 and sold at the peak of the scam.
At the time of writing, the token was trading at $0.00002031, down 99.3% from its peak price of $0.00353. Additionally, METAL’s market value is $20,000, representing a drop of 9000%.
Performance of METAL since launch. Source: DexScreener
