UFC star Khamzat Chimaev, known for his formidable presence in the ring, recently ventured into cryptocurrency, intending to capitalize on his popularity.

However, he faces allegations of insider trading related to his newly launched meme coin. He also has drawn the ire of the crypto community and raised serious questions about his financial activities.

Chimaev’s SMASH Coin Crashes After Initial Hype

Initially, Chimaev engaged his followers on X (formerly Twitter) by asking which cryptocurrency he should invest in. The very next day, Chimaev introduced his SMASH meme coin on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. He encouraged his fans to buy the SMASH meme coin, leveraging his famous catchphrase, “Smash ’em all.”

Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens

Despite initial hype and promotional efforts on his social media, the asset’s price fell to zero soon after its release. The crypto community quickly accused Chimaev of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme. In the crypto market, a pump-and-dump scheme involves artificially inflating an asset’s price before selling off at a peak, leaving later buyers with devalued investments.

Data from GeckoTerminal revealed a staggering 72% drop in SMASH’s value within 24 hours, with a temporary plunge exceeding 96%. The meme coin’s market capitalization now stands at only $82,000. Moreover, its trading volume barely surpasses $116,000.

Moreover, all related tweets had been deleted at the time of writing. These add more suspicion surrounding the meme coin.

Prominent on-chain sleuth ZachXBT uncovered evidence suggesting insider trading on SMASH. He pointed out that insiders and wallets linked to the developers purchased up to 78% of the SMASH volume.

“Why do all of you instantly nuke your reputation with meme coin scams?” ZachXBT called out.

Furthermore, ZachXBT’s findings indicate that at least 71% of the coin’s supply has a direct connection with insider wallets funded from the same Ethereum address as the developer’s wallet on Solana. A total of 24 addresses collectively received 86.2 SOL, valued at around $11,500.

This amount was subsequently utilized to acquire 712 million SMASH tokens, representing 71.2% of the total available supply of SMASH tokens. These assets were dispersed among smaller addresses, further complicating the traceability of the transactions.

The incident with Chimaev’s SMASH coin is not an isolated case. The crypto market has witnessed a surge in meme coins launched by celebrities, often leading to similar controversies. 

For instance, former Olympic athlete and Kardashian-Jenner family member Caitlyn Jenner faced accusations of fraud after launching her own coin. Similarly, confusion and deceit marred singer Iggy Azalea’s token release, as an unauthorized asset appeared on the market just before her official launch.

Read more: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For

Earlier in June, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has criticized celebrity meme coins. Buterin emphasized that digital assets should serve meaningful purposes rather than simply enriching insiders.

LayerZero (ZRO) price is observing the impact of the broader market’s bearish cues as it struggles to rally.

The lack of bullishness among investors is also acting as resistance to any potential recovery ZRO could witness.

LayerZero Investors Are Skeptical

ZRO’s launch last month was met with considerable bullishness but the recent performance does not relay the same. In the past week, ZRO’s Open Interest plummeted by nearly 50%, falling sharply from $112 million to $66 million. 

This significant decline suggests a reduction in the number of outstanding contracts or positions held by traders, indicating diminished market activity or a shift in sentiment.

Meanwhile, ZRO’s Chaikin Money Flow, which tracks buying and selling pressure, mirrors this bearish sentiment. The indicator reflects continued selling pressure on ZRO, implying that more capital is leaving the token than entering it. This trend typically indicates a negative outlook among investors and traders.

The combination of declining Open Interest and a bearish Chaikin Money Flow underscores a challenging period for ZRO. The substantial decrease in Open Interest indicates reduced market participation or possibly a loss of confidence among traders. 

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Simultaneously, the persistent selling pressure highlighted by the Chaikin Money Flow suggests ongoing bearish sentiment, potentially leading to further downside in ZRO’s price.

ZRO Price Prediction: Preventing Further Decline

ZRO’s price declined by 32% in the span of 48 hours but noted a 15% recovery over the past day. The altcoin trading under $3.42 is still susceptible to a decline as the bearish cues remain persistent. This could result in ZRO falling through the support at $3.00.

This would not only lower ZRO’s price to $2.50 but also leave it vulnerable to further decline.

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But if the altcoin manages to breach the resistance at $3.44, it could climb back to $3.82. Breaking this barrier would push ZRO’s price to $4.00, invalidating the bullish thesis.

The now-defunct crypto lending platform Celsius has settled its three-year-long case with KeyFi CEO Jason Stone. The litigation council submitted a letter to the judge detailing the agreement.

KeyFi and Celsius have a proper working relationship. The former served as Celsius’s investment manager between 2020 and 2021.

Fraud Case Settled: Celsius and KeyFi CEO Agree

The litigating council sent an official letter to US bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn, details of which were redacted, indicating that Celsius (the accused) and Mr. Stone (the plaintiff) had reached a settlement agreement.

KeyFi served as Celsius’s investment manager from August 2020 to March 2021, based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). It worked under the Celsius umbrella as Celsius KeyFi and, therefore, expected part of the profits it made under Celsius over several staking and DeFi strategies.

Reportedly, the two parties had a “handshake agreement,” which Celsius allegedly refused to honor, leading KeyFi to miss out on “millions of dollars.” In a long section of the complaint, Stone claimed Celsius was running a Ponzi-style operation by luring depositors with high interest rates.

Read more: How To Identify a Scam Crypto Project

According to the plaintiff, this strategy was the lender’s approach to “repay earlier depositors and creditors.” The complaint, therefore, detailed:

• Negligently misrepresenting its risk management protocols.
• Fraudulently inducing KeyFi to work with Celsius by presenting misleading information about its business operations.

Neither Celsius nor KeyFi or Stone immediately responded to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.

While partnerships in the crypto space often rely on trust, verifying all aspects of the agreement and operations can prevent misunderstandings. This case underscores the need to balance trust with verification.