Crypto sleuth ZachXBT has accused a former professional gamer and cybersecurity analyst of helping steal $3.5 million from numerous memecoins scams. The on-chain detective’s investigation unveiled a connection between the Australian man and nine crypto hacks.
Former Pro Gamer Turned Crypto Scammer
On Wednesday, ZachXBT alleged that former professional Fortnite player Serpent helped steal and gambled the funds from several memecoin scams orchestrated this year. In an X threat, the crypto detective exposed the connection between wallets linked to Serpent and those tied to the crypto scams.
The investigator explained that some wallets related to the former pro gamer had “high exposure” to addresses involved in several X and Instagram account takeovers (ATOs) in the last few months.
These include the hacks of McDonald’s and Kabosu Owner’s Instagram accounts and the takeover of Usher, Wiz Khalifa, Andy Ayrey, SPX 6900, and three other X accounts. The hacks saw the theft of $3.5 million from unsuspected investors that bought the scam memecoins launched on Solana’s token launchpad Pump.fun.
Hacks allegedly connected to Serpent. Source: ZachXBT
For instance, McDonald’s fake token, GRIMACE, reached a market capitalization of $25 million before the hacker rug-pulled, sending around $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 the ill-gotten funds through a series of transfers that ended at a casino deposit address, Ecb5vs.
The crypto detective noted that Serpent launched in March 2024 a project named ERROR. Per the post, this project rug-pulled and got the former pro gamer banned from X. However, the ERROR deployer sent 23 ETH in October to two instant exchanges, received at the same casino deposit address.
ZachXBT pointed out that Serpent “gambles millions of dollars on Roobet, Stake, BC Game, and Shuffle each month, frequently screen sharing with friends on Discord.” Screenshots obtained by the on-chain sleuth showed that Serpent gambled at least over $300,000 in one single day this month.
Serpent’s History Of Alleged Scams
Adding to the accusations, the post detailed that the former pro-Fortnite player was released from the esports organization Overtime in June 2020 after allegedly being caught cheating.
In 2022, he co-founded the NFT project DAPE, which was also rug-pulled, according to ZachXBT. Serpent claimed to be a cyber security analyst “specializing in marketing and security” and to be developing Sentinel, the “first-ever anti-mass dm.”
Since the investigator’s report, the accused has deleted all posts from his X account and changed his name and profile picture. Based on this, the crypto detective suspects potential links to other ATOs he hasn’t connected yet.
Serpent's X account changes. Source: ZachXBT
It is worth noting that the memecoin sector and the Solana-based launchpad used for Serpent’s alleged scams have been under fire for the recent controversial livestream saga, reigniting discussions around the cycle’s top narrative.
As reported by Bitcoinist, Pump.fun faced backlash for “allowing” the misuse of its live streaming feature to promote newly created memecoin using harmful, violent, and concerning tactics.
This incident temporarily shut down the platform’s live streaming option. Moreover, industry figures like Changpeng Zhao entered the conversation regarding memecoins utility, calling the popular tokens “a little weird” and urging the community to focus on building “real blockchain” projects.
However, the tokens seemingly continue to be many investors’ number one pick, with new internet sensations achieving massive milestones amid the memecoin craze and the market’s bullish rally.
Solana (SOL) is trading at $236 in the weekly chart. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com