Brazilian football icon Ronaldinho Gaúcho has made headlines by actively promoting the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, generating widespread debate and excitement among his large following around the world. Using his influential status, Ronaldinho posed a compelling question on social media: “It's time for cryptocurrencies to go mainstream, who's with me?” This direct appeal caused his message to be viewed more than 2.2 million times and retweeted thousands of times, indicating significant interest in his endorsement.
crypto expert issues warning over Ronaldinho endorsement
A few days earlier, Ronaldinho announced a strategic partnership with Lingo, a platform that aims to merge the utility of reward tokens with real-world assets through blockchain technology. The collaboration, revealed via x (formerly twitter), positions Ronaldinho as a key Lingo ambassador, aiming to leverage his celebrity status to introduce a broader demographic to the nuances of digital assets.
This partnership is one of many examples where celebrities have used their platform to promote financial technologies, potentially attracting new users who are unfamiliar with the crypto ecosystem. Ronaldinho's influence is particularly potent, given his international fame and his large social media following, which includes millions of fans across multiple platforms.
However, the announcement was met with skepticism from some sectors of the crypto community. In particular, ZachXBT, an on-chain analyst known for investigating fraud, responded critically. He highlighted Ronaldinho's history with cryptocurrency backing, which he said predominantly involved “pump and dump” schemes.
ZachXBT stated: “Is this a translation of you being broke again? In case you forgot, here are all the crypto projects you pushed and scrapped over the years,” and cited several projects Ronaldinho previously promoted, including World Cup Inu, Kisht Inu, MiniFootball Club, Atari Chain, Lord Society nft, BabyDoge and Metaverk (MEVR). He questioned the sustainability and integrity of these initiatives, sharing evidence of Ronaldinho's past financial problems to suggest a potential motive behind these promotions.
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Is this a translation for you to be broke again?
In case you forgot, here are all the crypto projects you pushed and scrapped over the years. pic.twitter.com/VvVRQR6tKt
– ZachXBT (@zachxbt) twitter.com/zachxbt/status/1805076904682434863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>June 24, 2024
This criticism highlights a broader problem within the cryptocurrency landscape: celebrity endorsements can significantly influence market prices and investor sentiment, often without a clear assessment of the underlying value or potential of the project being endorsed. promotes.
Ronaldinho is not alone in his foray into supporting cryptocurrencies. Other celebrities, including Australian rapper Iggy Azalea and sports figures such as Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and Naomi Osaka, have also participated in various crypto projects, often generating excitement in the short-term market.
For example, Iggy Azalea's launch of the MOTHER token on the Solana blockchain quickly reached a market capitalization of $200 million due to a 90% price increase in just 24 hours. These cases serve as a reminder of the potent combination of celebrity influence and the speculative nature of cryptocurrency markets. They also highlight the importance of investor caution.
Celebrity involvement can lead to greater exposure and potentially accelerate adoption, but it also introduces risks, as seen in the legal challenges faced by figures such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was involved in promoting initial coin offerings (ICOs). ) fraudulent.
At press time, MOTHER was trading at $0.0614, still -78% off its all-time high.
Featured image from Sky Sports, chart from TradingView.com
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