Celebrity meme coins have surged in popularity, becoming the latest trend in the meme coin craze.
This phenomenon reached its peak following controversial token launches from various celebrities.
At the centre of this buzz is Sahil Arora, a former teenage business prodigy from India, who has been named as the orchestrator behind these high-profile launches.
Caitlyn Jenner, rapper Rich the Kid, and Iggy Azalea have alleged that they were "scammed" by Arora, adding a layer of intrigue and controversy to his role in the celebrity meme coin frenzy.
Iggy Azalea's New Token has Huge Insider Activity
According to blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps, the new Iggy Azalea memecoin, Mother Iggy (MOTHER), which launched on 28 May, has shown significant insider activity, with one insider selling approximately 10% of the coin's total supply on 29 May.
This insider, identified by an account beginning with "JEET," allegedly purchased over 109 million coins through an over-the-counter deal, most of which were later dumped on the market.
Data from Solscan reveals that JEET received 127.5 million MOTHER from the deployer account and subsequently distributed these funds to several other wallets.
At least one of these wallets sold 20 million MOTHER into the Raydium liquidity pool through multiple transactions.
Bubblemaps highlighted this activity in an X thread, stating:
“We found huge insider activity on $MOTHER.”
The thread also noted that over 20% of the coin's total supply was purchased by insiders directly from the launch team, with over $2 million worth already sold by the time of the post.
Bubblemaps also highlighted that the JEET owner received "109T MOTHER (10% of the supply)," likely intending to state "109M MOTHER," given that the coin has a total supply of 1 billion, making 10% equal to 100 million coins, not 100 trillion.
Of these, 89 million tokens were transferred to other wallets and subsequently sold, netting the holder $1.4 million in profits.
As of Bubblemaps' post, the insider held another $400,000 in unrealised profits.
Bubblemaps attributed the wallet to a pseudonymous trader and Pump.fun user named "Invicible," who is also active on X.
According to Solscan blockchain data, the JEET wallet received 86.9 million MOTHER tokens from the deployer account at 9 p.m. UTC on 28 May.
An additional transaction brought in another 40.6 million tokens, totalling 127.5 million MOTHER, or 12.75% of the coin's total supply.
The account also acquired 9.2 million MOTHER from the Raydium liquidity pool.
At 9:13 p.m., the JEET account transferred 83.3 million tokens to an account ending in jdMW, which then moved the tokens to an account ending in fDOL.
From there, the coins were distributed across multiple wallets.
One of these wallets, ending in BhQ5, received 20 million MOTHER.
Starting at 1:14 a.m., the BhQ5 wallet executed multiple swap transactions on the Jupiter aggregator and the Raydium decentralised exchange, selling between 200,000 and 1 million MOTHER per transaction, and had sold all its funds by 2:56 a.m.
The BhQ5 wallet held 20 million MOTHER tokens, accounting for 15.6% of the 127.5 million tokens initially held by the JEET wallet.
Several prominent figures in the crypto community seemed to endorse Azalea’s entry into the space, either by praising her approach or offering her the benefit of the doubt amidst widespread scepticism.
DeGods project creator Rohun "Frank" Vora wrote:
“She lowkey so valid bro."
This scepticism stemmed both from general concerns about celebrity meme coins and specifically from the controversy surrounding Sahil Arora.
Azalea has made efforts to distance herself from the contentious promoter, seeking to establish her credibility in the crypto world.
How is Azalea & Arora Linked?
After helping Caitlyn Jenner launch a meme coin and allegedly stealing "lots of money" from her, as Jenner claimed, crypto promoter Sahil Arora quickly moved onto a new celebrity subject: rapper Iggy Azalea.
But Azalea launched her own token instead of working with Arora, slamming the promoter in a series of tweets Tuesday.
That did not stop Arora from apparently taking in $380,000 worth of funds in a presale for an Iggy Azalea token of his own—and it still has not been airdropped to those who sent funds, as of this writing.
Through his Telegram group, XO, Arora teased that Iggy Azalea was to be his next celebrity partner for a meme coin to launch through Pump.fun.
Quickly, he dropped an address prompting people to send Solana (SOL) to enter a presale for the soon-to-launch token.
Initially only open to 100 wallets, he soon expanded that tally to 700 and eventually 1,000.
Now, the presale wallet holds over $380,000 worth of crypto—but those who bought in say they have not received their tokens yet amidst mixed signals around Azalea's own MOTHER token.
Arora claimed on Telegram that Azalea would join him on Twitter Spaces once IGGY's market cap reached $10 million, even though it was only at $2 million.
Before IGGY could reach $3 million, Azalea announced her own token, MOTHER, distancing herself from Arora.
In response, Arora shifted his airdrop promises, initially pledged before IGGY's public launch.
Instead, he offered automatic allowlist placement on future projects, a 10% profit share from upcoming token launches, and an IGGY airdrop once it hit a $10 million market cap.
Despite these adjustments, the IGGY token's market cap plummeted from $1.35 million to $160,000, eventually falling to $55,000, according to DEX Screener.
Azalea took to Twitter Spaces to explain her side, stating that Arora had approached her manager about launching a token.
After investigating Arora’s background, they decided to proceed independently.
Arora, seemingly aware of this decision, launched his own IGGY token pre-emptively.
In the wake of the controversy, Arora teased another token drop and attempted to deflect criticism by flaunting his alleged wealth.
Arora Claims Innocence; Who is He Actually?
Arora denies accusations of being a scammer, asserting that many people have profited from his tokens and that past allegations come from disgruntled investors who suffered trading losses.
This week, one of his alternate accounts retweeted claims that the very celebrities accusing him of scams are still collaborating with him to generate media interest in meme coin sales.
The situation remains murky, yet it is evident that Arora has cultivated a reputation for having an extensive network of celebrity contacts for over a year.
According to a listings manager at a crypto exchange who worked with Arora and wished to remain anonymous, Arora's list includes high-profile celebrities and adult film stars, with endorsement fees ranging from $6,000 to $315,000.
The listing manager explained:
“In fact, even from that time, his main selling point would be that he was in touch with a number of celebrities as well as porn stars.”
The list of celebrities and prices that Arora alleged he could secure promotions for
Numerous individuals with both personal and business interactions with Arora assert that he frequently flaunted his purported relationships with notable celebrities.
However, the origins of these connections remain shrouded in mystery, leaving many puzzled about the nature of his associations.
Avery Bigweapon, a prominent Twitter user who initially linked celebrity meme coins to Arora, proposes the intriguing possibility that the very celebrities accusing him of fraudulent activities may still be collaborating with him.
Moreover, observers have long been perplexed by how Arora, operating under his real name, has amassed numerous allegations of misconduct without facing significant repercussions.
So who exactly is Sahil Arora?
Arora emerged onto the tech scene as a 17-year-old entrepreneurial talent from Gurgaon, India, a city adjacent to the capital, New Delhi.
According to the Times of India, he opted to leave Pathways School, one of the country's most prestigious institutions, to embark on his business ventures.
Shortly after departing school, he delved into various projects.
In 2017, reports indicate he launched a taxi app aimed at challenging Uber's dominance, partnered with actor Sahil Khan (who has recently faced legal issues) to introduce the advertising platform Tabverts, pioneered the innovative iris scanner Eye-D, and purportedly distributed Bitcoin ATMs worldwide through his company, Vuzelaa Group.
However, none of these endeavors are currently operational.
Numerous tokens endorsed by celebrities in the past have experienced dismal performance, often dwindling to worthlessness amidst allegations of insider trading.
It is imperative to exercise caution and not allow one's admiration for a celebrity to overshadow prudent judgment.