DJ Khaled, Floyd Mayweather, and Kim Kardashian are but a few of the influencers that have reportedly been paid millions to promote altcoins and major exchanges like Coinbase. A-list stars like Matt Damon are now the face of a $100 million campaign by Crypto.com to promote its brand as one of the top crypto exchanges on the market right now.
Not only are the A-listers getting involved, but, social media influencers comprise a major part of the crypto sphere as well. The great majority of altcoins on the market right now would not have received the bombastic start that they have without the aid of the social media influencer.
These influencers help not only promote the brand but help the project get off its feet in the first few weeks of its inception. This process is typically hidden and kept secret by the creators of blockchain protocols but here, we unveil the truth behind what is happening during the launch of a project.
And how influencers, both big and small, affect the greater market as a whole through their brand deals and influence.
Save the Kids Foundation
In early 2021, a small group of social media influencers gathered for a project called, Save the Kids (perfect title, right?). The project targeted members of a social media club called, the FaZe Clan, an online gaming group with millions of followers. This translates to millions of investors willing to do just about anything you tell them by virtue of being an influencer.
Are you starting to see where we’re going here?
This group of FaZe Clanners worked with the Save the Kids protocol to launch a foundation and token to provide funds for the thousands of children around the world that go to bed without a meal. Initially, this made a lot of sense—the group would leverage the great influence the gaming stars had over their communities using blockchain technology to raise money for the hungry. Sounds easy enough, right?
Where Did All The Money Go?
What you think was going to occur with the Save the Children token and its group of influencers happened—the group raised several million dollars, hyping the token to its millions of gaming followers. They bought in, raised the price of the token to unrealistic levels, and during this time, the founders dumped their stake in the project.
Leaving the Save the Children token in limbo, which then scared thousands of unsuspecting gaming investors, causing a massive sell-off of the token.
As of the time of writing, the Save the Children token is virtually worthless, and the money raised for charity? Nowhere in sight.
The Binance Charity, where the money was planned to go, never made it to them in the first place. And it never was going to because Binance later publicly confirmed that it did not accept altcoin campaigns in any shape or form. And it never had.
Lessons From Crypto Influencers
Not all influencers and crypto relationships end up bad. There are stories where the money raised did go to charity. Like the case with the Impact NFT Foundation or the Save the Forest foundation, which is actively working to use the funds, they raise to improve the world.
Situations like the one with the Save the Children token are just the type of lessons we all need to learn about who and what to trust.
And maybe, just maybe pouring all of our funds and trust into influencers isn’t the best idea. As investors and lovers of the crypto world, it is both our responsibility and our duty to make responsible decisions when it comes to supporting projects.
Because we never know, who will be the next Bitcoin or Save the Children?
