Dogwifhat’s price dropped nearly 10% in one hour after the Vegas Sphere denied any deal with the meme coin. A crowdfunding campaign raised around $700,000 to put WIF on the Sphere, but this never materialized.

Developers claim that they conducted negotiations through an intermediary due to their non-corporate structure, but this statement may be totally fraudulent.

Did Dogwifhat Lie About Partnership with Las Vegas Sphere?

It’s been a challenging new year for the popular dog-themed Solana meme coin. The token’s price began dropping in November and hasn’t quite recovered. Although a few speed bumps have periodically interrupted this decline, the downward trend is inexorable.

Today, new reports denying any partnership between Dogwifhat and the Vegas Sphere caused the meme coin’s price to plunge nearly 10%.

“We have never had a deal with Dogwifhat, and our agency at the time only had one very preliminary conversation early last year. There was and is no plan for Dogwifhat to appear on the Exosphere, and we are distressed they are using our name for fraudulent purposes,” a Vegas Sphere representative claimed in an interview.

Initially, it may seem strange that the Vegas Sphere has such an impact on Dogwifhat’s price. However, a crowdfunding campaign from early 2024 promised that WIF would appear on the Sphere and raised over $700,000.

Earlier this week, developers teased a Sphere launch, saying they would post dates “as soon as we are allowed to share.”

It appears this was a complete fabrication. Earlier in the week, WIF surged 34% after the Vegas Sphere tease but quickly dropped when the deal never materialized.

Now that the Sphere has accused WIF developers of misinformation, these price wobbles turned into an immediate 10% drop.

The meme coin’s team, for its part, has fervently denied any foul play. In a recent social media post, it claimed that Dogwifhat organizers have been in “ongoing negotiations” with Vegas Sphere representatives.

They claim to have acted through an intermediary since they don’t have a formal corporate structure. They also promised to refund the $700,000 crowdfunded assets if the deal falls through.

“If, by any chance, the plan is not executed, then the contract will be voided and contributions will be returned. There has been no intent to mislead any parties,” Dogwifhat posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Of course, this statement could be a complete lie. Appalling meme coin schemes have risen dramatically since Trump launched his own token, bringing in huge numbers of complete newcomers.

However, If the Dogwifhat team made up a story about the Vegas Sphere to hype up their own meme coin, it’d be far from the worst scam in today’s crypto industry.

Three new cryptos, Venice Token (VVV), jelly-my-jelly (JELLYJELLY), and Pumpkin Fun (PKIN), have gained attention this week. VVV, launched by ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees, powers a privacy-focused AI assistant and has over 43,000 holders.

JELLYJELLY, created by Venmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail, is tied to a new social media app and reached a $74 million market cap in under two days. PKIN, the native token of the Pumpkin Fun launchpad, is seeing rapid adoption, with over 53,000 daily transactions and strong demand for Solana-based meme coin launches.

Venice Token (VVV)

VVV is the native token of Venice AI, an artificial intelligence assistant focused on privacy and uncensored interactions. It was created by Erik Voorhees, the founder of ShapeShift, a well-known DeFi platform.

Initially airdropped to early users, VVV is now available on the Base chain, and it was among Base’s biggest new cryptos launched recently. While its price saw an initial surge, it has since dropped significantly. Despite this decline, the token has over 43,000 holders and a market cap of around $167 million.

VVV’s RSI is currently at 35.6, indicating that it is approaching oversold territory. An RSI below 30 is generally seen as oversold, meaning a reversal could be near if buyers step in. However, if selling pressure continues, Venice Token could see further declines before stabilizing.

jelly-my-jelly (JELLYJELLY)

JELLYJELLY is the native coin of the Jelly-Jelly app, a social platform introducing a new “conversational” media format for recording, editing, and sharing. It was launched by Iqram Magdon-Ismail, the co-founder of Venmo, first on Pumpfun before graduating to Raydium.

In less than two days, JELLYJELLY gained over 47,000 holders, with a daily volume of $753,000 and 3,100 transactions. Its market cap is already close to $77 million, showing strong initial interest despite relatively low transaction activity.

While still a new coin, its connection to Venmo’s co-founder could attract more users and investors over time. The fact that JELLYJELLY is tied to a real product also strengthens its potential, as projects with actual utility often sustain long-term interest better than purely speculative tokens.

PUMPKIN (PKIN)

Pumpkin Fun is a newly launched Solana-based launchpad for new cryptos that aims to compete with PumpFun. To attract new projects, it offers features like ultra-fast coin launches, live streaming, rewards unlocking, and on-platform staking.

The platform has quickly gained traction, reaching nearly 17,500 holders with a market cap of $26.7 million. With over 53,000 daily transactions, engagement on Pumpkin Fun is already strong, signaling a growing interest in its ecosystem.

Pumpkin Fun’s RSI is currently at 65, indicating that it’s approaching overbought territory but still has room to run if the momentum continues. If the platform can successfully attract meme coin launches at scale, demand for PKIN could push its price even higher in the coming weeks.

A Turkish court overturned a previous verdict that Thodex CEO Faruk Fatih Özer and his two brothers were guilty of creating a criminal organization. The court overturned guilty verdicts for 16 defendants, but only 4 of them were completely acquitted and released.

Faruk and the Özer brothers were sentenced to 11,196 years for charges like aggravated fraud and money laundering in addition to this organized crime charge. They will remain in prison, although they demand a retrial.

Faruk Özer’s Thodex Rug Pull

Faruk Fatih Özer founded the exchange Thodex with his brothers Güven and Serap, and they committed one of the biggest rug pulls in crypto history. Together, they reportedly stole around $2 billion in crypto, and Faruk remained at large after his brothers’ arrest.

However, in 2022, he was caught in Albania and later extradited to Turkey.

This monumental theft impacted hundreds of thousands of users and damaged the industry’s broader reputation, so prosecutors tried to throw the book at these brothers. They tried to give Faruk and 20 other Thodex employees sentences of up to 40,000 years.

These men were found guilty, and the former CEO was sentenced to 11,196 years. However, this sentencing didn’t end the legal battle.

According to local media, an appeal launched by Faruk and the other Thodex executives has finally yielded results. The 22nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice overturned several of these convictions.

This week, 16 defendants were cleared of the aggravated fraud charge, and four were released outright. The Özer brothers, however, were not so lucky.

“Overturning the local court’s verdict, the Chamber ruled that the defendants Faruk Fatih Özer, Güven Özer and Serap Özer be released separately on charges of establishing a criminal organization. The Chamber ruled that the defendants should remain in custody for other crimes and sent the file back to the local court,” local reports claimed.

In other words, Faruk and the top-level Thodex executives are still on the hook. Nonetheless, the Özer brothers’ legal team is demanding a retrial, alleging that public perception and media narratives contributed to the long sentence.

For example, although news reports initially claimed thefts around $2 billion, today’s indictment asserts that they only stole $7 million.

“Those who want to get rich overnight in crypto will get scammed by thodex. They buy the shares of companies whose worth is unknown at inflated prices on the stock exchange and go bankrupt,” popular Turkish investor Efe Yakup Karahanlı wrote back in 2024.

For now, it’s unclear exactly how long Faruk Özer and the remaining Thodex employees will actually stay in prison. For example, a few of the named lesser charges still carried sentences of 6-18 years.

There is a chance that some of these men may be released from prison during their lifetime, but even that is unlikely.