Nigerian crypto community raises alarm over Davido meme token

Davido has remained silent amid criticism about pump-and-dump schemes and regulatory scrutiny.

Afro-pop star Davido’s management of his newly launched meme token, DAVIDO, has drawn criticism from the Nigerian crypto community. Many believe that a token dump may soon be part of his plans.

According to Lookonchain, Davido made a considerable profit of 2,783 SOL ($473,000) in just 11 hours by selling his DAVIDO memecoin after its launch on May 29. The singer still has an unrealized profit of $207,000.

Davido’s memecoin launch

Davido had received an initial investment of 7.5 SOL (worth $1,275) and then used 7 SOL ($1,190) to create and launch his DAVIDO token on the platform pump.fun, purchasing 203 million DAVIDO tokens, representing 20.3% of the total supply.

The blockchain tracking firm stated that he also sent 20 million DAVIDO to “dead1111…1111,” with 61.12 million DAVIDO ($207,000) left.

Community reacts

Although Davido has remained silent on the issue, his fans and the crypto community have widely criticized his withdrawal of substantial figures from his DAVIDO token stash while encouraging people to buy.

Rume Ophi, a local crypto expert, believes that Davido could have made a more strategic move by advocating for regulatory clarity and exchange licensing in Nigeria’s crypto space rather than launching his own token.

Ophi said Davido’s memecoin risks becoming a pump-and-dump scheme, undermining industry credibility and sparking SEC scrutiny.

Cointelegraph reached out to Davido for comment but had no response by the time of publication.

With followers, many of whom may be inexperienced in cryptocurrencies, this move could lead to widespread financial harm and increased regulatory pressure on legitimate players.

One X user remained disappointed that Davido and his team could not allow the new memecoin to gain momentum. He said they could have made even more money if Davido and his team had handled the launch more strategically.

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The user suggested that Davido and his team could have allowed the new token to gain momentum and grow in value rather than selling a large amount of the token (almost $500,000 worth) immediately after its launch.

According to another X user, @Toobbss, Davido has a history of dumping digital coins on his fans, and the recent incident marks the second time he has done so in the past three years, leaving his followers to bear the losses.

Davido had promoted RapDoge in 2021 before dumping over $300,000 on his fans.

Meanwhile, Davido’s moves within the cryptocurrency world come as celebrity meme assets gain traction. Iggy Azalea recently introduced her own token, MOTHER.

However, these celebrity-backed cryptocurrency launches have sparked controversy, leaving investors vulnerable to potential pump-and-dump schemes, which could result in financial losses.

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