Crypto entrepreneur Mario Nawfal is in hot water, facing serious accusations that he orchestrated a “rug pull” meme coin scheme involving the popular streamer, Adin Ross.

The drama unfolded when Nawfal’s X account, @RoundtableSpace, suddenly announced a partnership with Ross to launch a new Solana-based token called ROSS. But the post vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, sparking immediate red flags about potential fraud.

Mario Nawfal Faces Allegations of Orchestrating $7 Million Rug Pull

It all started on Tuesday when @RoundtableSpace tweeted about the ROSS launch, boldly stating Adin Ross was on board as a backer. The tweet even included a contract address, seemingly to give the meme coin a veneer of legitimacy. However, just 20 minutes later, the tweet was gone, and the crypto community’s suspicion meters immediately went into overdrive.

Sharp-eyed X (Twitter) user @cryptolyxe was quick to spot the suspicious activity and call it out. They accused Nawfal of fabricating the Ross partnership to pump up the token’s value, essentially setting up a classic rug pull. Cryptolyxe backed up their claims with screenshots of the original, now-deleted tweet and a price chart showing a dramatic 82.72% crash, the telltale sign of a rug pull.

For those unfamiliar, a “rug pull” is a crypto scam where promoters inflate a token’s price artificially, then abruptly abandon the project, leaving investors holding the bag with worthless digital assets. According to cryptolyxe’s analysis, the ROSS token’s market cap briefly skyrocketed to a whopping $7 million before plummeting straight to zero.

“So Mario Nawfal just posted a fake “partnership” with Adin Ross for a memecoin, then rugs the coin from $7m to 0, and deletes all the tweets… bruh,” cryptolyxe remarked.

In response to the growing uproar, @RoundtableSpace scrambled to issue statements denying any foul play. They claimed that a rogue member of their team, someone named @hardsnipe, was the culprit, posting about the token without authorization.

Nawfal’s team doubled down, insisting they acted swiftly to delete the offending tweet and clarify that, in fact, no partnership with Adin Ross ever existed. Adding another layer to the story, Nawfal later suggested his account itself might have been hacked.

“Someone got access to both this account and Crypto Town Hall and posted a fake CA yesterday and today,” Nawfal indicated.

He further explained that as soon as the alleged breach was detected, they kicked out the delegate access and reportedly changed passwords to lock things down and prevent any further unauthorized posts.

Growing Concerns Over Meme Coin Rug Pulls

Despite Nawfal’s attempts to explain things away, a large chunk of the crypto community remains highly skeptical. Various users, including @nftkeano, were quick to point out Nawfal’s past involvement in promoting questionable crypto ventures, making it harder to believe this was just an innocent mistake and raising serious doubts about whether it was a deliberate scam.

“This is literally your 3rd rug this month…,” Keano noted.

Adding fuel to the fire, Adin Ross’s camp denied any connection to the token. Leaked chat logs suggest there was even confusion internally within Nawfal’s team about Ross’s supposed involvement, strengthening the argument that the partnership was entirely fabricated.

While Nawfal’s team is sticking to their story – that the ROSS meme coin post was a blunder caused by an unauthorized team member – the crypto world isn’t buying it. The speed at which the tweet disappeared and the token’s value imploded raises too many questions. Plus, Nawfal’s track record of controversies doesn’t help his case, leaving many wondering about the real story behind this incident.

Whether it was a genuine screw-up or a calculated scam, this whole episode underscores the ever-present dangers lurking in the volatile crypto world.

Just three weeks prior, rumors swirled about the alleged sale of Kanye West’s X account. The supposed new owners apparently wasted no time using it to shill the Barkmeta meme coin, sparking immediate fears of—you guessed it—another meme coin rug pull.

This incident started a wider conversation about the risks of celebrity endorsements in the shady world of crypto scams. Meanwhile, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy faced a barrage of criticism over accusations that he orchestrated a “rug pull” with the GREED token.

After heavily promoting the coin, Portnoy allegedly dumped a huge chunk of his holdings, triggering a price crash that left everyday investors facing significant losses.

And it doesn’t stop there. Reports are surfacing that insiders behind the LIBRA meme coin have links to other controversial projects, including the MELANIA coin, which itself has been slapped with rug pull allegations.

This pattern of rug pulls is becoming increasingly common, highlighting the significant risks investors face when jumping into tokens hyped by big names or influencers.

Data from GeckoTerminal confirms the damage: ROSS has tanked over 95% in the last 24 hours and is currently hovering around rock bottom.