Brazilian soccer icon Ronaldinho Gaúcho has made headlines by actively selling the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency, sparking widespread dialogue and pleasure amongst his huge international following. Using his influential standing, Ronaldinho posed a compelling query on social media, “Time for crypto to go mainstream, who’s with me?” This direct attraction led to his message being considered over 2.2 million occasions and retweeted hundreds of occasions, indicating important curiosity in his endorsement.
Crypto Skilled Points Warning On Ronaldinho’s Endorsements
A number of days earlier, Ronaldinho introduced a strategic partnership with Lingo, a platform that goals to merge the utility of reward tokens with real-world belongings by way of blockchain expertise. The collaboration, revealed through X (previously Twitter), positions Ronaldinho as a pivotal ambassador for Lingo, aiming to leverage his superstar standing to introduce a broader demographic to the nuances of digital belongings.
This partnership is certainly one of many examples the place celebrities have used their platform to advertise monetary applied sciences, doubtlessly attracting new customers unfamiliar with the crypto ecosystem. Ronaldinho’s affect is especially potent, given his worldwide fame and enormous social media following which incorporates tens of millions of followers throughout a number of platforms.
Nevertheless, the announcement was met with skepticism from some quarters of the crypto neighborhood. Notably, ZachXBT, an on-chain analyst identified for investigating fraud, responded critically. He highlighted Ronaldinho’s historical past with cryptocurrency endorsements, which he claimed predominantly concerned “pump and dump” schemes.
ZachXBT acknowledged, “Is that this a translation for you’re bankrupt once more? In case you forgot, listed below are the entire crypto initiatives you pump and dumped through the years,” and cited a number of initiatives Ronaldinho beforehand promoted, together with World Cup Inu, Kisht Inu, MiniFootball Membership, Atari Chain, Lord Society NFTs, BabyDoge, and Metaverk (MEVR). He questioned the sustainability and integrity of those initiatives, sharing proof of Ronaldinho’s previous monetary troubles to recommend a possible motive behind these promotions.
Is that this a translation for you’re bankrupt once more?
In case you forgot listed below are the entire crypto initiatives you pump and dumped through the years. pic.twitter.com/VvVRQR6tKt
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 24, 2024
This criticism underscores a broader concern throughout the cryptocurrency panorama—superstar endorsements can considerably sway market costs and investor sentiment, typically with out a clear evaluation of the underlying worth or potential of the venture being promoted.
Ronaldinho shouldn’t be alone in his foray into cryptocurrency endorsements. Different celebrities, together with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea and sports activities figures like Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, and Naomi Osaka, have additionally engaged with varied crypto initiatives, typically leading to short-term market pleasure.
For instance, the launch of the MOTHER token by Iggy Azalea on the Solana blockchain rapidly reached a market cap of $200 million on account of a 90% value surge inside simply 24 hours. These cases function a reminder of the potent mixture of superstar affect and the speculative nature of the crypto markets. Additionally they spotlight the significance of investor warning.
The involvement of celebrities can result in elevated publicity and doubtlessly speed up adoption, but it surely additionally introduces dangers, as seen within the authorized challenges confronted by figures like Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was implicated in selling fraudulent preliminary coin choices (ICOs).
At press time, MOTHER traded at $0.0614, nonetheless down -78% from its all-time excessive.
Featured picture from Sky Sports activities, chart from TradingView.com
