Cryptocurrency investigator ZachXBT has accused a former professional gamer and cybersecurity analyst of helping steal $3.5 million from several memcoin-related scams. The on-chain investigator’s investigation revealed a connection between the Australian man and nine cryptocurrency hackers.
Former professional gamer turned cryptocurrency scammer
On Wednesday, ZachXBT claimed that former professional Fortnite player Serpent helped steal and gamble away money from several scams organized this year. In Threat
Detective He explained That some of the wallets linked to the former professional player had “significant exposure” to addresses involved in several X and Instagram account takeovers (ATOs) in the past few months.
These include the hacks of McDonald’s and Kabosu owners’ Instagram accounts and the takeover of Usher, Wiz Khalifa, Andy Ayrey, SPX 6900 and three other X accounts. The hack saw $3.5 million stolen from unsuspecting investors who bought fraudulent memecoins launched on Solana’s token launch platform Pump.fun.
Hacks allegedly connected to Serpent. Source: ZachXBT
For example, a fake McDonald’s token, GRIMACE, reached a market cap of $25 million before the hacker pulled the rug out, sending about $700,000 to two wallets. The on-chain data analyzed showed that these two addresses had links to other wallets involved in the other eight scams, which moved illicit funds through a series of scams. Transfers Which ended at the casino’s deposit address, Ecb5vs.
Crypto Investigator noted that in March 2024, Serpent launched a project called ERROR. According to the post, this project has been withdrawn and the former professional player has been banned from X. However, in October the bug publisher sent 23 ETH to two spot exchanges, received at the same casino deposit address.
ZachXBT noted that Serpent “gambols millions of dollars on Roobet, Stake, BC Game, and Shuffle every month, and frequently shares the screen with friends on Discord.” Screenshots obtained by an on-chain investigator showed that Serpent bet more than $300,000 at least in a single day this month.
Snake’s history of alleged scams
In addition to the accusations, the post detailed that the former pro-Fortnite player was released from esports organization Overtime in June 2020 after he was caught cheating.
In 2022, he co-founded the NFT project DAPE, which was also successful, according to ZachXBT. Serpent claimed to be a cybersecurity analyst “specializing in marketing and security” and that he is developing Sentinel, “the first anti-crowd DM ever”.
Since the investigator’s report, the accused has deleted all posts from his account X and changed his name and profile picture. Accordingly, the crypto investigator suspects possible links with other ATOs that he has not yet contacted.
Serpent's X account changes. Source: ZachXBT
It should be noted that the memecoin sector and the Solana-based launch platform used in the alleged Serpent scams have come under fire for the recent controversial live streaming saga, reigniting discussions about the main narrative of the cycle.
As reported by Bitcoinist, Pump.fun has faced backlash for “allowing” its live streaming feature to be abused to promote its newly created memecoin using malicious, violent, and alarmist tactics.
This incident temporarily halted the platform’s live streaming option. Furthermore, industry figures like Changpeng Zhao have entered the conversation regarding the utility of memcoins, calling the popular tokens “a bit weird” and urging the community to focus on building “real blockchain” projects.
However, it seems that cryptocurrencies are still the first choice for many investors, with new internet sensations making huge inroads amid the memecoin craze and the market’s bull run.
Solana (SOL) is trading at $236 in the weekly chart. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com