No. Unfortunately their official social media account was hacked, and the attackers used the account to promote a Solana-based cryptocurrency token.
Heavy sh*t
On June 26, hackers posted false claims about a partnership between Metallica and Ticketmaster to launch the METAL token.
The posts, which were later removed by Metallica’s team, directed fans to a site called pump.fun, which has no ties to the band or Ticketmaster.
The METAL token’s market value briefly soared to $3.37 million after the false announcement, only to plummet to $90,000 within hours, a 97% drop.
Ouch. Adding to the confusion, the hackers mentioned fintech firm MoonPay in the scam. Of course, there isn’t any MoonPay relationship.
The company’s president, Keith Grossman, quickly denied any connection with the METAL token. In a humorous response, MoonPay referenced Metallica’s Master of Puppets album to warn users about the lie, the scam.
Hall of fame, or hall of flame
Metallica’s experience isn’t unique. The Solana blockchain has seen a rise in celebrity-endorsed memecoins, drawing both real projects and scams.
Scam tokens, not scam celebs. Or at least, I hope so. Earlier in June, a similar pump-and-dump event occurred with the HULKAMANIA token, linked to WWE star Hulk Hogan.
Platforms like X and Instagram have security measures, experts think events like these show the need for stronger security and better monitoring to prevent future breaches.
Which can’t be prevented anyway, so maybe user awareness is the better choice, not monitoring everything.
Celebs are financial experts now?
Many thinks the cryptocurrency and entertainment industries need to work together to made up clear guidelines and protections against scams involving celebrity endorsements, and maybe the best advice is the „don’t listen to celebs in finance”.
Education and awareness campaigns are also can help users know the difference between legitimate investments and potential scams. Or simply stupid ideas.
There are no doubt issues, but the Solana memecoin market remains hopeful.
Celebrity-linked tokens such as Jason Derulo’s JASON and Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER have shown positive trends, and maybe the continuous drama and sh*tshow is part of the performance. We can’t know nowadays.
