Memecoin dumps, then pumps after Vitalik Buterin sells unwanted airdrop

Martin Young2 hours agoMemecoin dumps, then pumps after Vitalik Buterin sells unwanted airdropThe memecoin took a massive hit after Buterin sold his entire 17 billion Neiro airdrop, but in a weird turn of events, it pumped soon after.6646 Total views2 Total sharesListen to article 0:00NewsOwn this piece of crypto historyCollect this article as NFTCOINTELEGRAPH IN YOUR SOCIAL FEEDFollow ourSubscribe onA memecoin attempting to use Vitalik Buterin’s fame to gain attention has just seen its value pump 200%, even though Buterin dumped the token. 

The obscure token attempted to gain credibility on Aug. 4 after airdropping 4% of its supply to the Ethereum co-founder to claim he was the largest holder.Screenshot of memecoin promotion. Source:Neiro on Ethereum (CTO)

But barely an hour went by before the Buterin dumped his entire stash of the Neiro on ETH (NEIRO) memecoin. Buterin exchanged 17.1 billion NEIRO for 44.5 Ether (ETH) worth around $103,000 at the time.Transfers to and from vitalik.eth. Source:Etherscan

Buterin’s quick transfer initially caused the token to dip around 60% as people noticed the sale.

However, according to DexScreener, the Neiro on ETH (NEIRO) token has since surged more than 200% to hit an all-time high of $0.000038 on Aug. 5.NEIRO token prices. Source: Dexscreener

At the same time, the Neiro on Ethereum (CTO) account associated with the token posted:“Hey @VitalikButerin, we see that you sold your $Neiro bag. Our humble ask is that you donate part of the proceeds to a stray dog shelter. And thank you for building our playground!”

Four different NEIRO tokens are listed on CoinGecko, at least six variations on Uniswap and even more potentially scammy Neiro-related accounts on X.

Additionally, on July 29, the developer of a Solana-based version of Neiro profited $2.85 million in an apparent rug pull, as reported by Cointelegraph.

In late July, independent blockchain sleuth “Wazz” posted a public warning that the “biggest Neiro token on Ethereum is a honeypot.”

Related:$31M Neiro project on Ethereum ‘is a honeypot’ — Wazz

Meanwhile, Memecoins are getting hammered in a market rout, with the total meme token market cap falling around 16% over the past 24 hours to $35.8 billion.

The biggest losers are Pepe (PEPE), Dogwifhat (WIF), Floki (FLOKI) and Book of Meme (BOME), all of which have dumped between 18% and 20% in the past 24 hours as of Aug. 5.

Magazine: How crypto bots are ruining crypto — including auto memecoin rug pulls# Altcoin# Vitalik Buterin# MemecoinAdd reaction