- Sahil Arora raised $380,000 in the presale of IGGY token claiming it was Iggy Azalea’s official cryptocurrency.
- Funds from the presale wallet are being moved, with no tokens airdropped to investors.
- Investors demand refunds and accountability as IGGY token value drops by 98%.
Celebrity crypto promoter Sahil Arora has come under fire after allegedly taking $380,000 in presale funds for a token falsely claimed to be endorsed by rapper Iggy Azalea. Despite promising an airdrop of the “IGGY” token, presale participants are still waiting to receive their tokens.
Recent transactions indicate Arora is moving funds out of the presale wallet, sparking outrage among investors who demand refunds and accountability.
The rise and fall of the IGGY token
In May, Sahil Arora, a well-known figure in the celebrity crypto coin space, launched a presale for a new token purportedly associated with Iggy Azalea.
Arora had previously found success with tokens linked to celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Rich the Kid, making his IGGY token presale an attractive investment for many.
The presale quickly amassed $380,000 as investors hoped to capitalize on the anticipated hype.
However, the excitement was short-lived. Iggy Azalea publicly denounced Arora and distanced herself from the token, launching her official cryptocurrency, MOTHER, which saw substantial success with a $26 million market cap within 24 hours.
In contrast, the IGGY token, which momentarily peaked at just under a $3 million market cap, lost its momentum and plummeted in value.
Presale participants soon realized that they had not received their promised IGGY tokens.
Despite Arora’s claims that all presale buyers had been “taken care of,” multiple investors reported that they had not received any tokens or refunds.
Arora’s justification for moving funds between wallets as “shuffling” only added to the confusion and frustration among investors.
Token presale funds on the move: where’s the money going?
As the controversy grew, attention shifted to the presale wallet’s activity.
Significant movements of Solana (SOL) began in early June, with transactions sending large amounts of SOL to various wallets and centralized exchanges.
On June 8, approximately 663 SOL (worth around $89,800) was transferred to a wallet, which then sent a similar amount to Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally.
Such transfers typically precede the conversion of crypto assets to fiat currency.
Further scrutiny revealed that over 2,296 SOL (around $311,000) had been moved from the presale wallet over the past month.
These transactions included transfers to intermediary wallets, centralized exchanges, and the launch of new tokens on Pump.fun, a platform that facilitates the creation of meme coins. Despite these activities, presale participants continued to wait for their IGGY tokens, leading to growing suspicions of fraud.
Investors’ frustrations is evident on social media, with many calling for Arora to face legal consequences. Some are even demanding his deportation from Dubai, where he is currently based.
The value of the IGGY token has since plummeted by nearly 98% from its all-time high, rendering it almost worthless. Meanwhile, Azalea’s official Mother Iggy (MOTHER) token has also dropped by 55% over the past month.