Nigerian artist Davido has been accused of conducting a “blatant scam” after earning over $468,000 from selling his newly launched meme coin.
A Nigerian crypto enthusiast argues that Davido’s actions negatively impact many genuine crypto businesses and startups.
Davido Dumps Meme Coin Shortly After Promotion
Davido, a popular Nigerian musician, is accused of engaging in a pump-and-dump scheme with his latest crypto token, which spiked 200% before dropping 56% within an hour.
Reports indicate that Davido bought 203 million DAVIDO tokens (20.3% of the total supply) using seven SOL tokens and then sold 121.88 million of these, making a profit of 2,791 SOL (around $474,000).
Davido launched the token on May 29 via the meme coin platform Pump.fun and promoted it to his followers before selling a large portion on May 30.
In July 2021, Davido was reported to have promoted the deflationary token rapdoge, which briefly doubled in value before falling back. He also promoted another token, racksterli, which faced similar issues.
Accusations of a Scam
Reports that Davido sold the meme coin just before its crash led to outrage from Nigerian crypto enthusiasts, who labeled him a scammer.
Rume Ophi, a prominent crypto and blockchain educator, condemned Davido for committing an “outright scam.”
Hours before the coin’s dramatic drop, Ophi warned Davido’s followers that they were likely victims of his latest crypto scheme. He stated, “If you bought the $DAVIDO meme coin expecting profits, you were outright scammed by Davido himself. This is classic crypto rug pull behavior.”
Ophi also mentioned that if U.S. citizens invested in the meme coins, U.S. regulators might take action against Davido.
He noted that this incident could harm “many legitimate businesses and startups operating in good faith in the crypto market.”
As the backlash over Davido’s alleged pump and dump scheme continued, a South African publication reported that Davido was vacationing in Cape Town, sharing photos of him touring the city.
