Crypto detective ZachXBT has accused a former professional gamer and cybersecurity analyst of helping steal $3.5 million in numerous memecoin scams. The on-chain detective’s investigation revealed a link between the Australian and nine crypto hacks.
Former professional gamer turned crypto scammer
On Wednesday, ZachXBT claimed that former professional Fortnite player Serpent helped steal and plays funds from several memecoin scams orchestrated this year. In a threat X, the crypto detective revealed the link between wallets linked to Serpent and those linked to crypto scams.
The investigator explain that certain wallets linked to the former professional player were “heavily exposed” to addresses involved in several X and Instagram account takeovers (ATO) in recent months.
These include the hacking 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 resulted in the theft of 3.5 million dollars from unsuspected investors who purchased the fraudulent memecoins launched on Solana’s token launchpad, Pump.fun.
Hacks allegedly connected to Serpent. Source: ZachXBT
For example, McDonald’s fake token GRIMACE reached a market cap of $25 million before the hacker pulled it, sending around $700,000 to two wallets. On-chain data analyzed showed that these two addresses had links to other wallets involved in the other eight scams, which transferred the ill-gotten funds through a series of transfers which ended at a casino deposit address, Ecb5vs.
The crypto detective noted that Serpent launched a project named ERROR in March 2024. According to the post, this project pulled the rug out and banned the former pro player from X. However, the ERROR deployer sent 23 ETH in October to two instant swaps, received at the same casino deposit address.
ZachXBT pointed out that Serpent “bets millions of dollars on Roobet, Stake, BC Game, and Shuffle every month, frequently sharing his screen with friends on Discord.” Screenshots obtained by Chain Detective showed that Serpent gambled at least more than $300,000 in a single day this month.
The History of Serpent’s Alleged Scams
Adding to the accusations, the post clarifies that the former pro-Fortnite player was released from esports organization Overtime in June 2020 after allegedly being caught cheating.
In 2022, he co-founded the NFT project DAPE, which was also blackballed, according to ZachXBT. Serpent claimed to be a cybersecurity analyst “specializing in marketing and security” and developing Sentinel, the “first-ever anti-mass DM.”
Since the investigator’s report, the accused has deleted all messages from his X account and changed his name and profile picture. Based on this, the crypto detective suspects potential links to other ATOs that it has not yet connected.
Serpent's X account changes. Source: ZachXBT
It is worth noting that the memecoin sector and the Solana-based launchpad used for the alleged Serpent scams came under fire during the recent controversial livestream saga, reigniting discussions around the cycle’s main narrative.
As reported by Bitcoinist, Pump.fun faced backlash for “allowing” the misuse of its live streaming feature to promote the newly minted memecoin using harmful, violent, and disturbing tactics.
This incident temporarily interrupted the platform’s live streaming option. Additionally, industry figures like Changpeng Zhao have entered the conversation regarding the usefulness of memecoins, calling the popular tokens “a little weird” and urging the community to focus on building “real blockchain projects “.
However, tokens apparently continue to be the number one choice for many investors, with new sensations on the Internet achieving major milestones amid the memecoin craze and bullish market rally.
Solana (SOL) is trading at $236 in the weekly chart. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com