tl;dr
The crypto world is no stranger to wild swings, but the recent frenzy around fake tokens inspired by soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo took the market by storm—only to crash just as fast. Over the weekend, rumors swirled that Ronaldo was about to launch a meme coin, sparking a wave of counterfeit “CR7...
The crypto world is no stranger to wild swings, but the recent frenzy around fake tokens inspired by soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo took the market by storm—only to crash just as fast. Over the weekend, rumors swirled that Ronaldo was about to launch a meme coin, sparking a wave of counterfeit “CR7” tokens. One of them briefly ballooned to a $143 million market cap before collapsing 98% in just 15 minutes, leaving investors reeling.
The chaos began when influencers—many of whom have since deleted their posts—promoted the CR7 token, which bore the athlete’s nickname. On-chain analysts at Bubblemaps suspect the tokens were the work of an organized group, capitalizing on the hype around Ronaldo’s partnership with Binance. The athlete has collaborated with the exchange since 2022, releasing four NFT collections, but no official token. Still, the fake CR7 coins flooded the market, with at least five variants launching on Solana—a network known for its speed and low fees. Most of these tokens fizzled out, failing to exceed $1 million in value.
The standout, however, was a token pushed by influencers, which surged to a staggering $143 million market cap in six minutes. But the euphoria was short-lived. Within nine minutes, the price collapsed as a series of rapid sales by unknown addresses drained liquidity, a move analysts call a “rug pull”—a common tactic in the meme coin world where creators abandon a project after siphoning funds.
This isn’t the first time a celebrity’s name has been weaponized for crypto hype. Earlier this year, Kanye West’s YZY token followed a similar trajectory, hitting $411 million in value just an hour after its launch before plunging 74% in 24 hours. The YZY project has since pivoted to promises of a crypto payments processor and debit card, but the token’s value has since tumbled to $75 million.
For fans of Ronaldo and other celebrities, the lesson is clear: social media buzz doesn’t always translate to legitimacy. “It’s likely that after YZY, some influencers jumped on the wave and claimed Ronaldo would launch a token too, using their accounts,” said Bubblemaps’ pseudonymous sleuth 0xToolman. “Then they launched an unendorsed token and posted the contract address, luring investors in, only to rug pull shortly after.”
The aftermath left a sour taste in the mouths of investors. In a Telegram group for the CR7 token, one user wrote, “Yo WTF is going on? Are we still alive?” Another responded, “They emotionally harvested us for six months. Bye.”
As the crypto market continues to flirt with celebrity endorsements and meme coins, the line between opportunity and scam grows thinner. For now, Ronaldo remains silent on any official token, and the CR7 tokens—like so many others—fade into the ether, a cautionary tale of hype and hubris.