A new class-action lawsuit demands a jury trial against A-list celebrities and social influencers for their alleged participation in a classic pump-and-dump scheme relating to SafeMoon tokens.
SafeMoon, a BNB Chain-native cryptocurrency, allegedly recruited a number of celebrities to lure investors in with misleading promotions. Some of the prominent names roped in by the scheme include musicians such as Nick Carter, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty and YouTubers Jake Paul and Ben Phillips.
According to the lawsuit, SafeMoon and its subsidiaries mimicked real-life Ponzi schemes by misleading investors to purchase SafeMoon tokens under the pretext of unrealistic profits.
Citing the ecosystem’s “burn” and “tokenomics” as key drivers for SafeMoon’s price potential, the recruited celebrities allegedly convinced their followers to invest in the token.
Furthermore, the lawsuit points out numerous instances where the recruited celebrities successfully hyped the token enough to artificially increase the trading volume and price. While SafeMoon witnessed multifold growth over several months, the sudden departure of the company’s C-suite executives was when the token prices started plummeting, as evidenced by the graph below (marked in yellow):
The lawsuit alleges a “slow rug pull” attempt from the involved celebrities, implying a slow sell-off of holdings as the trading volume from retail investors remains inflated:
“The Promoter Defendants’ improper promotional activities…
