Once again, the cryptocurrency sector finds itself embroiled in a controversy, this time around a prominent influencer in the CryptoTwitter space, MrPunk.Eth.
The influencer gave birth to his own token, $GANG, with promises attached of huge profits for his unsuspecting followers. What began as a superhyped-to-the-max community project has rapidly devolved into what many will surely call and some are already calling a complete and total pump-and-dump scheme.
Having dropped 96% from its apex, with countless investors left nursing grievous wounds, the happenings around $GANG have ignited a firestorm of debate over what, exactly, influencer-run crypto projects mean for the average retail trader.
How the Hype Machine Fueled $GANG’s Rise
The $GANG launch was pure spectacular entertainment. In the crypto world, few people are as well-known as MrPunk.Eth. He has an enormous amount of influence, and in the case of $GANG, it was needed. Why? The token was a Class A stinker with no real reason to exist. To create the illusion of demand, assurances were lavished on it that it had great things in store, that it was the kind of thing a person would bully their friends into purchasing for fear of being left behind.
Prior to the launch, he made a number of daring assertions:
– The contract would be made public on Twitter.
– He would ensure he owned 90% of the supply to “control the token.”
The massive reach of these statements and the sheer number being said in them fueled excitement and speculation. Days before the token went live, he hosted several X Spaces—some audience (!) with over 10,000 listeners!—and, speaking from the way back of the mic, was not a bad way to shove the anticipation through the roof.
He stated that his following on the paid side of X would get to see the contract before the general public did. This was a ploy not only to boost his subscriber numbers but also to get a bunch of hype-laden investors ready to go for when the actual public offering happened.
He spent 48 hours building excitement and acquiring paid subscribers, all while reminding everyone that this was an opportunity unlike any other, one that would not come along again.
The $GANG Crash: From $400M to Exit Liquidity
The token’s eventual launch came with an already astonishing $400 million market cap. Retail investors poured in, anticipating more meteoric price increases. But almost as soon as the launch happened, it started to feel like a bit of a dark joke.
The token began to crash shortly after its launch. While investors were pouring their funds into $GANG, insiders and early buyers started to sell and take their profits, draining what little liquidity there was and sending the price of the token downward.
Now let’s look at the current situation: $GANG has plummeted 96%, to a paltry $14 million market cap. Some in the early days enjoyed significant profits, but for the vast majority of retail traders, “Gang” has played out like a bad dime store melodrama. Many lost everything and suffered, as the token’s value sort of mysteriously disappeared—kind of like those poor unsuspecting souls in the 2004 Josh Hartnett film “Haven.”
Some insiders are reported to have walked away with amounts exceeding $500,000, while MrPunk.Eth himself is alleged to have cashed out to the tune of more than $3 million.
Insider Profits: A 253x Return in 40 Minutes
One of the most stunning disclosures from this debacle is the sheer amount of money made in such a brief period. Blockchain data reveal that a single wallet associated with MrPunk.Eth pulled off a ridiculously profitable trade almost immediately upon $GANG’s launch.
The figures communicate better than words can:
– He first invested 22.5 SOL (about $5,400) to buy 7.75 million $GANG tokens.
– Then, after only 40 minutes, he sold those tokens for 5,642 SOL (approximately $1.37 million).
– This means his total profit from that one trade was 5,620 SOL (around $1.36 million), equal to a 253x return.
This level of control shows how the $GANG chart could be manipulated by its creator. Acting as both a developer and a key influencer, he channeled market forces and determined when to “pull the rug.”
Community Fallout and Lessons Learned
$GANG’s collapse has left many investors seething. They feel betrayed and misled, believing they were sold a token that was bound for failure from the start. There is no doubt that Web3 projects led by influencers can be dangerous, and that Project Gansers is a prime example. Hype may now be the primary currency in the influencer toolkit, but a solid foundation of decentralization and real utility should still be the floor for any crypto project—a floor Project Gansers never had.
Though a few members of the crypto community demand accountability, MrPunk.Eth has maintained an air of relative silence. This silence has led some to accuse him of being involved in a calculated cash grab, on top of the accusations with which he’s already been hit.
The $GANG incident teaches investors a stark lesson: in the realm of crypto, one should never place trust solely in influencers, no matter how much in vogue they may be. Hype is a powerful thing, but when the dust has settled, those who follow it with blind faith often find themselves as the exit liquidity for those who knew to sell when they did.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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