The Setup and Initial Pump
Yesterday, a crypto influencer known as SmokezXBT managed to extract $430,000 from his followers through a memecoin scheme that got an unexpected boost from Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. The whole thing started with a token called Shanghai Composite Index, ticker SCI6900, which had been created on the Binance Smart Chain about four days prior.
According to crypto investigator Dethective, SmokezXBT began purchasing SCI6900 along with several other influencers. He then promoted the memecoin to his 60,000 followers and spent roughly an hour selling his holdings. But the story doesn’t end there. At around 4:44 AM UTC, SmokezXBT started buying the token again.
The CZ Effect
What happened next was pure chance, really. Just one minute and 34 seconds after SmokezXBT resumed buying, at 4:46 AM UTC, CZ commented “Is this real?” on the post. That single comment from the Binance founder sent the memecoin’s market cap skyrocketing from $3 million to nearly $30 million—a tenfold increase in moments.
In under two minutes, SmokezXBT pocketed $430,000 as the token’s price surged by an astonishing 4,557%. He didn’t exactly hide his success either, writing “Told you so” and responding to Dethective with “Keep hating bozzos.” SmokezXBT later explained his strategy: he bought SCI6900 when it had a $90,000 market cap, held it, then bought more at $3 million market cap and sold after CZ’s post, calling it “a masterclass on aping memes.”
A Pattern of Behavior
This wasn’t SmokezXBT’s first rodeo, apparently. On-chain data shows he has 1,466 deleted coin addresses according to Dethective’s investigation. Another well-known crypto sleuth, ZachXBT, weighed in, calling SmokezXBT “a known grifter” and linking to a 2023 incident involving a memecoin called BLOOD.
In that previous case, SmokezXBT had promoted BLOOD for days, rugged his followers, then deleted all his social media accounts. When ZachXBT confronted him about it, SmokezXBT admitted lying to his followers but gave conflicting stories—first claiming he created BLOOD, then saying two developers hired him to market the coin. ZachXBT noted the influencer was “playing victim and making excuses.”
Broader Memecoin Context
CZ has been more active in the memecoin space lately, particularly after launching the Meme Rush wallet that gives users early access to new memecoins. Just a few days ago, the BNB memecoin season was apparently at its peak with 70% of investors reportedly in profit.
But the timing of this incident comes as memecoins on Binance have taken significant hits. The crypto market recently experienced its largest single-day liquidation, wiping out $9.55 billion. Binance memecoins specifically dropped 20.4% in the past 24 hours, with the overall memecoin market capitalization down 19.8% according to CoinGecko.
It’s worth noting how quickly these situations can develop. One minute you’re looking at a relatively obscure token, the next it’s getting attention from major industry figures, and suddenly people are making or losing life-changing amounts of money. The speed at which these markets move is both fascinating and concerning.
I think what stands out here is how a single comment from someone like CZ can completely transform a situation. It raises questions about influence and responsibility in these decentralized spaces. But then again, people have been making similar arguments about market manipulation in traditional finance for decades. Maybe the tools change, but the underlying behaviors remain familiar.
