The Bizarre Cross-Over Between Influencers And Cryptocurrencies.
The finance industry used to be an old man’s game, but times have changed now and anybody can play it. In this article, we will explore the way celebrities influence people’s spending and, as we can see from recent events, investing habits.
It seems like a new influencer cryptocurrency scam pops up every couple weeks at this point, from the infamous “We scammed you and you can’t do sh*t about it” DeFi100 saga, to a certain social media personality’s new venture.
It’s no coincidence that the pandemic helped pave the way for the rise of cryptocurrency investing, as it has decimated many people’s sources of income. Crypto investing can be a good way to earn money, however, its unregulated nature can also be a good revenue source for scam artists.
Save The Kids Token
A charity cryptocurrency promoted by famous influencers? Sounds like a noble cause in theory, not so much in practice though.
Save The Kids Token was supposed to be a tool of “wealth redistribution”, a way for young people to earn money and a percentage of its profits would go to charity.
The coin and its promoters have come under fire for allegedly running a ‘pump-and-dump’ scheme. These allegations come from the fact that $KIDS coin’s marketing campaign used influencers to ‘hype up’ the coin prior to launch, so their fans could invest their money into it and earn profits.
And earn profits they did. Not the fans or the kids they claimed to ‘save’, but whoever is behind the project itself.
Shortly after its launch on June 6th, the price of $KIDS plummeted, causing thousands of investors to lose money. People began voicing their concerns right after that, but the project’s promoters started wiping traces of their involvement off the face of the internet, as well as attempting to silence those who speak out through law suits. Classic.
It’s a matter of time before the real perpetrator gets exposed. Until then, we will have to keep raising awareness about these schemes. Knowledge is power, and we need to arm ourselves.
Ethereum Max
Ethereum Max describes itself as a tool to “bridge the gap between community coins and foundational crypto coins”. They also claim to be a “lifestyle coin” that offers perks and rewards to its users, as well as an NFT marketplace (that does not exist as of now).
Buzzwords aside, eMax celebrated its 1 month anniversary as of June 2021. What does this mean? It means that eMax has yet to be an established and trustworthy currency, yet is widely endorsed by mainstream celebrities.
Advertisements have switched forms over the years. Back in the day, stiff, overproduced mini-movies with large budgets dominated the media. Nowadays, they have taken advantage of the parasocial relationships people have with their favorite celebrities to sell their products. Social media influencers make advertisements seem like your friend recommending you something they really loved, and it draws people in more than the unnatural, annoying ways of old-school adverts.
The FTC’s disclosure requirements have kind of ruined the allure of influencer ads by requiring clear disclosures on posts, yet influencer marketing remains extremely effective even despite regulations. This can be attributed to the above-mentioned parasocial relationship between the consumer and the advertiser. You are more likely to sit through a video of Jackie Aina’s makeup tutorials, or Kim K’s crypto promotion video in this case, than a TV ad by some faceless corporation.
How can we hold Influencers accountable?
Humans are naturally drawn to high status individuals, this gives said individuals power over the rest, and up until recently, a sense of invincibility.
My guess is that cancel culture and economic recessions play a role in society’s rising critical view of celebrities. We are beginning to see powerful people who have the means to evade punishment be held accountable for their actions, and that has made them terrified of losing support, and losing that support means losing their income.
I will provide one example of creators like Coffeezilla, who have been at the forefront of holding those who profit off others’ losses in the cryptocurrency investment field accountable for their actions. This often comes at a risk of being sued, copyright-striked or de-platforming.
In conclusion, we need to ‘cancel’ them with our wallets, not pointless passive-aggressive comments. We need to speak their language of ‘Profitese’.
