GameStop Memes Raises $4M Amid Investor Controversy Over Endless Presale
Summary:
GameStop Memes (GMS), an unofficial project modeled after the Wall Street Memes (WSM) token, has secured $4 million in funding. However, investors are accusing it of being an unending presale that absorbs cryptocurrency without providing returns. One investor claims to have spent $1,000 on tokens, which he did not receive, with developers stating the tokens will be released after an indefinite presale period. Despite these concerns, blockchain data shows investors continue to buy GSM coins. Notably, the project falsely claims to be partnered with Cointelegraph.
An unofficial venture titled GameStop Memes (GSM) has secured $4 million from financial backers, taking inspiration from the earlier Wall Street Memes (WSM) token. According to the project's official X account post on Feb. 14, this success story isn't entirely positive. Some backers are accusing it of being an infinite presale that merely drains investors' cryptocurrency without giving anything back.
A Cointelegraph correspondent communicated with an investor who decided to stay anonymous. This investor stated that despite paying $1,000 for GSM tokens through the project's platform, he didn't get any of them. The investor was informed by the developers that the tokens would only be issued once the ongoing presale concludes. However, they didn't provide a solid end date for the presale. Instead, they implied that it would only end once all the tokens are bought. "The presale is unending and does not stop", the investor stated.
The GameStop development unit confirmed via Telegram that the tokens would not be distributed until the presale finishes. The team didn't specify an end date but stated if the presale doesn't sell all the tokens, a strategic plan is ready to cover the presale allocation.
Trademarks or brand identity of the GameStop retail chain seem to have no relation with GameStop Memes. Requests for remarks were sent to the official GameStop retailer by Cointelegraph, but there has been no response at the time of report generation. Meanwhile, GameStop Memes' platform falsely indicates a partnership with Cointelegraph.
An initiative named “Wall Street Memes,” which successfully raised over $25 million during its presale, inspired GameStop Memes. Wall Street Memes caught the public eye in 2021 when Wall Street Bets incited a short squeeze on GameStop's share. Having connections with the Reddit group brought the pre-established Wallstmemes.com site back to the limelight.
Wallstmemes.com did not have any relations with any Web3 projects until May 2023 when developers stemmed out a meme coin project, the “Wall Street Memes community (WSM)” intending to ride on the success of the site.
By those early stages the development team of WSM had already earmarked 50% of the accumulated fund for marketing, increasing interest in the coin. With an earning of over $25 million, the presale was announced to end in seven days on September 18. On September 26, the token got listed on OKX, the crypto exchange.
According to data published by CoinMarketCap, WSM topped nearly $0.07 per token on the secondary market by September 30, 2023. At the time this report was published, the value of the token stooped lower to $0.0082 per piece.
The newly launched Gamestop Memes token's connection with the Wall Street Memes development team was inquired about by Cointelegraph. The response was that the two were “entirely separate projects.”
GSM launched a similar Wall Street Memes site in October, listing the presale as "Stage 1." The website professes its emergence from the courageous fight set by Wall Street Memes, intending to become a champion for the community, being inspired from the victorious inception of Wall Street Memes.
GMS claims to have many crypto media publications as partners, including Cointelegraph. However, on the contrary, Cointelegraph maintains no affiliations with Gamestop Memes.
The Cointelegraph news team examined whether a user could actually buy the coin by connecting an Ethereum wallet to the project’s interface. The results showed that deposits in Tether (USDT) or Ether (ETH) were sent to a specified address, often getting swapped for ETH.
Blockchain data shows that no GMS have been distributed to investors. However, the GSM team confirmed through a Telegram chat with Cointelegraph news team that once the presale concludes and allocation is met, tokens would be dispatched. Blockchain data also revealed continuous buying of GSM coins. Despite the failure to dispatch the tokens to the investors, they have also not been sold in the market.
Published At
2/28/2024 8:11:19 PM
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