Emily Walker
Crypto investigator ZachXBT has accused a past professional gamer and cybersecurity expert of aiding in the theft of $3.5 million from various memecoin scams. His investigation revealed links between the individual and a series of nine crypto hacks.
Ex-Professional Gamer Involved in Crypto Fraud
ZachXBT made allegations against Serpent, a former Fortnite player, suggesting he facilitated the theft and misappropriated funds from several memecoin scams that occurred this year. In a post on X, ZachXBT detailed how wallets associated with Serpent correspond to those involved in these scams.
According to the investigator, certain wallets tied to Serpent showed significant connections to accounts behind several recent takeovers on X and Instagram, including those of McDonald’s and the owner of Kabosu’s Instagram account. Other targets included the accounts of Usher, Wiz Khalifa, and Andy Ayrey. These hacks led to losses of $3.5 million, taken from unsuspecting investors who purchased the fraudulent memecoins released on Solana’s Pump.fun.
For instance, the counterfeit token GRIMACE associated with McDonald’s inflated to a $25 million market cap before the scammer executed a rug pull, diverting around $700,000 to two wallets. Analysis of blockchain data revealed that these wallets were also linked to other scams and funneled illicit proceeds to a casino deposit address labeled Ecb5vs.
ZachXBT pointed out that in March of 2024, Serpent launched a project called ERROR, which subsequently rug-pulled, resulting in his ban from X. The ERROR project’s deployer transferred 23 ETH to two instant exchanges in October, which again directed their funds to the same casino deposit address.
Moreover, the investigator noted that Serpent reportedly gambled millions every month on various platforms like Roobet and Stake, often sharing his gaming experiences live with friends via Discord. Screenshots have shown him wagering more than $300,000 in a single day.
Serpent’s Alleged Scam History
The allegations also include past events where Serpent was expelled from the esports organization Overtime in June 2020 after being accused of cheating.
He co-founded an NFT project, DAPE, in 2022, which also faced rug-pull accusations, according to ZachXBT. While claiming to be a cybersecurity analyst focused on marketing and safety, he worked on a project he called Sentinel, described as the first anti-mass DM tool.
Following these claims, Serpent deleted all content from his X profile and altered his name and image. This has led ZachXBT to suspect there may be further ties to other disputed account takeovers yet to be uncovered.
It’s important to note that the memecoin market and the Solana launchpad associated with Serpent’s alleged activities are facing scrutiny due to a recent controversial livestream incident. This has sparked renewed discussions surrounding key narratives within the sector.
Pump.fun has received criticism for allegedly allowing its livestream feature to be misused for promoting newly minted memecoins through harmful means. As a result, the platform temporarily disabled its livestream option. Influential figures, such as Changpeng Zhao, have joined the debate over memecoin usefulness, describing popular tokens as “a little odd” and encouraging the community to focus on developing “real blockchain” projects.
Despite this, memecoins remain a top choice for many investors, with new online phenomena reaching impressive achievements amid the ongoing memecoin frenzy and a bullish market trend.
