Brazilian soccer icon Ronaldinho Gaucho has made headlines for his aggressive push for mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, sparking widespread dialogue and pleasure amongst his large international following. Ronaldinho used his affect to ask a compelling query on social media: “It is time for cryptocurrencies to go mainstream, who helps me?” This direct enchantment resulted in additional than 220 views of his message 1000’s of occasions and retweeted 1000’s of occasions, displaying how persons are in his endorsement.
Cryptocurrency consultants sound alarm over Ronaldinho endorsement
A couple of days in the past, Ronaldinho introduced a strategic partnership with Lingo, a platform that goals to combine the utility of reward tokens with real-world property by means of blockchain expertise. The partnership, revealed through X (previously Twitter), sees Ronaldinho grow to be a key ambassador for Lingo, aiming to make use of his celeb standing to introduce the nuances of digital property to a wider viewers.
This partnership is considered one of many examples of celebrities utilizing their platforms to advertise fintech, doubtlessly attracting new customers unfamiliar with the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ronaldinho’s affect is especially highly effective given his worldwide fame and large social media following, together with hundreds of thousands of followers throughout a number of platforms.
Nonetheless, the announcement was met with skepticism from some quarters within the cryptocurrency group. Notably, ZachXBT, an on-chain analyst identified for investigating fraud, responded critically. He highlighted Ronaldinho’s historical past of supporting cryptocurrencies, which he claimed primarily concerned “pump and dump” schemes.
ZachXBT stated: “Is that this the interpretation of Are you bankrupt once more? In case you forgot, listed below are all of the cryptocurrency tasks you’ve got hyped and dumped through the years,” citing a number of tasks beforehand promoted by Ronaldinho, together with World Cup Inu, Kisht Inu, MiniFootball Membership, Atari Chain, Lord Society NFTs, BabyDoge and Metaverk (MEVR). He questioned the sustainability and integrity of those strikes and shared proof of Ronaldinho’s previous monetary woes to recommend potential motivations behind these promotions.
Is that this the interpretation of Are you broke once more?
In case you forgot, listed below are all of the crypto tasks which were hyped and dumped through the years. pic.twitter.com/VvVRQR6tKt
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 24, 2024
This criticism highlights a broader downside within the cryptocurrency area – celeb endorsements can enormously affect market costs and investor sentiment, typically and not using a clear evaluation of the underlying worth or potential of the tasks being promoted.
Ronaldinho isn’t the one one to dabble in cryptocurrency endorsements. Different celebrities, together with Australians Rapper Iggy Azalea and sports activities stars like Lionel Messi, tom bradyand Naomi Osaka are additionally concerned in numerous crypto tasks, typically inflicting short-term market pleasure.
For instance, the MOTHER token launched by Iggy Azalea on the Solana blockchain shortly reached a market worth of $200 million because of a 90% value surge in simply 24 hours. These examples function a reminder of the highly effective mixture of celeb affect and the speculative nature of cryptocurrency markets. In addition they careworn the significance of investor warning.
Movie star involvement can enhance publicity and doubtlessly speed up adoption, nevertheless it additionally comes with dangers, such because the authorized challenges confronted by figures like Floyd Mayweather Jr.., who allegedly promoted fraudulent preliminary coin choices (ICOs).
At press time, MOTHER was buying and selling at $0.0614, nonetheless down -78% from its all-time excessive.
Featured picture from Sky Sports activities, chart from TradingView.com