NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen has reaffirmed his commitment to his Ethereum-based BALL project despite mounting allegations of fraud and shady dealings in the cryptocurrency community. The project, launched on August 2, faced immediate backlash from crypto enthusiasts.
Critics quickly flagged potential issues, leading to cautionary community notes on Pippen’s announcement post on X (formerly Twitter). Crypto investigator ZachXBT revealed that the deployer address for BALL mirrored a wallet implicated in at least two previous rug pulls. Additionally, ZachXBT highlighted that Pippen’s earlier NFT venture in 2022 ended in failure and was labeled as another rug pull.
LET'S $BALL 🏀
CA: 0x393Bf304dD474f48210f5cE741F19A2a851703Ca#BeLikeSatoshi#Game5Ball #RWA #Ethereum @Game5Ball pic.twitter.com/7dTKa59tWI— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) August 1, 2024
Further controversy arose when another crypto analyst shared data indicating that Pippen and the developer wallet dumped $330,000 worth of BALL tokens in a single transaction. In response, Pippen claimed that 103 Ether (ETH) was withdrawn to “mitigate attacks” amid intense scrutiny.
Despite these assertions, skepticism remains high. Social media users provided evidence showing that BALL insiders controlled over 15% of the token’s supply, exacerbating concerns about the project’s integrity.
Nah what the fuck
bro dumped $330K straight from the dev wallet in 1 TX
Didn't even bother hiding the rug lmao https://t.co/nEbFg7B3Vw pic.twitter.com/bEuCZimlw1
— Wazz (@WazzCrypto) August 1, 2024
Unsuccessful celebrity crypto projects, especially on the Solana blockchain, have not deterred public figures from entering the Web3 space. There were around 30 celebrity Memecoins launched on Solana last month, with most failing and leaving a trail of disillusioned investors.
Scottie Pippen’s determination to continue with the BALL project underscores the ongoing tension between celebrity endorsements and the volatile crypto market, raising important questions about trust and transparency in digital asset ventures.
