Lionel Messi promoted a Solana-based meme coin on his Instagram account on Monday. The soccer legend posted an image depicting the mascot of Water Coin [WATER] i.e. an animated glass of water, clinging to his shoulder. Alongside, he affixed a link to the project's Instagram handle.
Within hours following Messi’s post, WATER’s price registered an unsustainable uptick. At press time, the token was exchanging hands around $0.0007986, down 38% from its 24-hour peak of $0.00129.
Bitget is one exchange that has listed this Solana-based meme coin. Here, it is worth noting that Messi has been tied up with the CEX since Q4 2022, and perhaps, that is why he endorsed the coin to his 504 million followers.
Crypto stalwarts were outrightly critical of the soccer legend’s post. On-chain and fundamental analyst ‘Ericonomic’ pointed out,
“Third token scam that Messi promotes: The first one was Leafty, which was a rug (they removed the liquidity like 5 days later lol). The second one was PLANET, a slow rug that is like -90% since that promotion. This time it's Water. They will probably rug soon so make yourself a favour and don't buy that sh*t.”
According to the project’s website, Water Coin intends to bring water-related issues to the limelight. It is also looking to support sustainable projects that are working to intercept deforestation and help foster water distribution in Africa.
The project’s roadmap further underlines the team’s intentions to bag celebrity partnerships and then transition to become a charity-based environment token.
Right after Messi, even Ronaldinho Gaúch posted a similar story on his account and tagged the official page of the meme coin.
The retired soccer player testified at a congressional hearing in Brazil in Q3 last year challenging allegations revolving around his involvement in an alleged $61 million crypto pyramid scheme.
Commenting on the latest development, CryptoQuant executive Ki Young Ju exclaimed,
“Water coin, mother coin, father coin... Silly celebrity coins aren't intended for typical crypto degens; they're aimed at people with much lower IQs.”
Meanwhile, on-chain sleuth ZachXBT cautioned users by asserting that Ronaldinho has “always” been promoting low-quality crypto grifts to his followers.
