Football legend Ronaldinho Gaúcho’s grand entrance into the crypto world with his new official token didn’t exactly go as smoothly as planned this Sunday. The launch hit an early snag, sparking worries about potential “early snipers” and a “serious security risk” right out of the gate.

Ronaldinho Coin (STAR10), launched exclusively on the BNB chain this Sunday, made its debut to a wave of excitement, promising the football icon’s massive global fanbase access to some pretty cool stuff: “exclusive experiences, real benefits, signed collectibles, and even an AI Agent.”

But the initial cheers quickly quieted down. The retired footballer’s token experienced quite a rollercoaster ride right after launch, taking a tumble of over 25% from its peak of $0.387. It’s currently hovering around $0.289, according to data from CoinGecko.

This bumpy beginning is actually a familiar story in the world of high-profile tokens. Think of it as an echo of other launches that started off rocky, like the LIBRA token championed by Argentine President Javier Milei.

When you look at how the tokens are distributed, a significant 20% of the total supply is allocated to Ronaldinho himself. That’s a pretty hefty slice, especially when you consider that most crypto projects usually keep the founder’s share closer to the 5-10% range.

Blockchain analytics firm Onchainlens flagged  some eye-popping activity: one wallet reportedly raked in nearly $5 million in profit after investing just $29,247 to snag some tokens. Meanwhile, crypto copy-trading platform lmk.fun pointed out that the token launch seemed to be “filled with ‘early snipers’.”

Adding another layer to the unfolding drama, Web3 security platform GoPlus Security tweeted a security alert. They discovered a serious vulnerability, revealing that the person in control of STAR10 had the power to burn any token holder’s tokens whenever they pleased—all because ownership hadn’t been renounced.

This alert didn’t go unnoticed. It even prompted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”) to jump in with a warning to traders: “Please beware!”

Ronaldinho quickly responded to CZ’s tweet, reassuring everyone that, “Ownership was not renounced? Now it is! Tokens cannot be destroyed without warning.” GoPlus confirmed that the fix was in shortly after.

Ronaldinho’s crypto history

Turns out, this isn’t Ronaldinho’s first dance with crypto ventures.

Way back in 2022, the footballer launched his first token, RON, on the P00LS platform, but it didn’t really take off or generate much buzz. That same year, he also promoted the World Cup Inu token—you know, a meme coin that popped up around the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Just like many celebrity-endorsed crypto projects, it saw a quick burst of excitement and price increase, but then came crashing down pretty dramatically.

Then in 2023, things got even more complicated when he had to appear in court to deny any involvement in the “18kRonaldinho” crypto pyramid scheme. He claimed his image was used without his permission in the whole thing. This scheme, promising unbelievable daily returns of 2%, eventually collapsed, leading to a massive $61 million lawsuit.