Russian MMA fighter Khamzat Chimaev is facing allegations of involvement in a scam as the token he is affiliated with has plummeted by 94%. The controversy surrounding Chimaev arose after blockchain sleuth ZachXBT discovered that a significant portion of the supply of the Solana-based memecoin SMASH, which Chimaev had been promoting, was quietly purchased by insiders associated with the SMASH team.
ZachXBT’s analysis revealed that over 70% of insider and SMASH development team wallets were directly linked, as they were funded by the same address on Ethereum. The insiders’ wallets were reportedly funded through centralized trading platforms like Binance and SideShift. This discovery led ZachXBT to question Chimaev’s team’s competence and integrity, accusing them of engaging in meme coin scams that could damage their reputation.
Chimaev, a Russian mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler, has been actively promoting the SMASH token on social media platforms like X and Telegram. However, he has not made any public statements regarding the scam accusations. As a result of the controversy, the value of the SMASH token has plunged by over 90% and is currently trading at $0.0003460, according to data from DEXScreener.
This is not the first time Chimaev has been involved in promoting digital assets. In April 2023, he announced his ambassadorship for CAIZcoin, an “Islamic compliant cryptocurrency” with supposed partnerships with companies like CertiK, Fireblocks, Elliptic, and Ledger. However, a spokesperson for Elliptic denied any affiliation with CAIZcoin, raising questions about the legitimacy of Chimaev’s endorsements.
The MMA fighter’s involvement in these questionable cryptocurrency projects has raised concerns about the potential harm to his reputation and credibility. As the investigation into the scam allegations continues, it remains to be seen how Chimaev and his team will address the accusations and rebuild trust with their followers and investors.