How crypto gamblers lost more than $100m to memecoins targeting DeepSeek’s fame

DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup that shook US markets on Monday, does not have a cryptocurrency.

The company even says so in a post on its X account.

But that didn’t stop memecoin peddlers from riding DeepSeek’s rise to prominence to flood the market with tokens purportedly linked to the Chinese artificial intelligence startup.

Blockchain security platform Blockaid told DL News that at least 75 malicious DeepSeek tokens were created on Monday ― a threefold increase from the previous 24 hours.

The sheer volume of these tokens in quick order shows how quickly scammers can exploit popular narratives, said Oz Tamir, a research analyst at Blockaid.

The same spike in fraudulent activity also accompanied the Trump and Melania memecoins in previous weeks

“Many of the threat actors involved in the Trump [copycat] scams are active here,” Tamir told DL News.

These fake DeepSeek tokens attracted significant interest from memecoin gamblers hoping to ride the viral wave.

Most of the tokens enjoyed an initial value bump before crashing massively after their creators sold their holdings.

Onchain data from scores of these fake tokens reviewed by DL News indicate investors have lost at least $100 million since Monday.

Memecoin launches have recently become easy with the popularity of pump.fun, a platform that enables users to create tokens without requiring any coding knowledge. The memecoin maker is the subject of a lawsuit in the US for allegedly flouting securities regulations.

But memecoin creators targeting DeepSeek’s fame haven’t stopped at meme tokens.

Malicious actors also created a fake version of the company’s website laden with a crypto drainer that can syphon funds from unsuspecting victims if they interact with the site.

While short-lived memecoins that track popular online narratives are not new, the bizarre memecoin spectacle that accompanied Donald Trump’s inauguration seems to have reinvigorated the trend.

The Trump and Melania memecoins were launched with surprise announcements on X. Trump’s memecoin reached a top market value of $14.5 billion barely hours after its launch but is now down to $5.8 billion. Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump’s token peaked at $2 billion but has since fallen to $371 million.

The style of those announcements has given some credibility to other unexpected social media posts from notable personalities publicising their own memecoins, even if such announcements turn out to be fake.

Social media accounts of celebrities including actor Dean Norris, famed investor Ross Gerber, and musician Keith Urban have been hacked to promote fake memecoins since Trump’s inauguration and preceding launch of his official memecoin.

Investors lost at least $8 million in the fake Dean Norris memecoin.

Bad actors even hijacked Nasdaq’s X account and promoted a fake memecoin called Stonks. The token’s market value leapt to $80 million before it ultimately crashed.

Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.