đ¨ Crypto Influencer âCrypto Beastâ Cashes Out $11M in ALT Token After Hyping It to FollowersâZachXBT Blows the Whistle
Crypto's wild west just got wilder. Prominent influencer 'Crypto Beast' dumped $11 million worth of ALT tokensâright after aggressively promoting the project to their followers. Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT exposed the move, sparking outrage across crypto Twitter.
Pump-and-dump or 'strategic reallocation'? You decide.
The incident highlights the murky ethics of influencer shilling in an unregulated marketâwhere 'financial advice' often smells like a exit liquidity scheme. Remember kids: when an influencer's bag is full, yours might be empty.
The Dump That Wiped Out Retail Investors
Crypto Beast began promoting ALT in early July 2025, generating strong community interest in the Solana-based meme token through his substantial social media following.
On July 14, ALT experienced a catastrophic price collapse within minutes, falling from $0.19 to $0.003 as coordinated selling pressure overwhelmed the tokenâs liquidity.
1/ An investigation into how @cryptobeastreal scammed followers by lying they were not behind the $190M -> $3M $ALT market cap crash where 45+ connected insider wallets sold $11M+ on July 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/AmnY1xux7a
â ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 22, 2025ZachXBTâs blockchain analysis identified timing correlations between instant exchange transactions from May through July 2025 that connected Crypto Beastâs verified wallet address to the insider selling network.
The investigator documented how the same Celestia address (celestia1ch***s5) funded multiple exchanges, including KuCoin, Sideshift, Binance, and HTX, to create the connected wallet cluster.
Following the crash, Crypto Beast attempted to distance himself from the incident by claiming on social media that âwhale snipersâ were responsible for the price collapse, while simultaneously deleting his previous ALT promotional content.
Additional wallets linked to the influencer still hold 89 million ALT tokens, representing 10% of the total supply, suggesting the potential for future market manipulation, according to ZachXBTâs research.
The investigator noted that a separate sniper cluster sold $2.6 million worth of ALT tokens with ties to ALTâs deployer address, but emphasized that Crypto Beastâs connected wallets represented the majority of the selling pressure.
Crypto Beast temporarily deactivated his Twitter account following the exposure, but has since returned with small giveaways to rebuild his follower base, raising concerns about similar future schemes.
1/ An investigation into how @cryptobeastreal scammed followers by lying they were not behind the $190M -> $3M $ALT market cap crash where 45+ connected insider wallets sold $11M+ on July 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/AmnY1xux7a
â ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 22, 2025Influencer Manipulation in Cryptoâs Wild West
This revelation adds to a growing list of similar incidents where crypto influencers have allegedly profited at their followersâ expense.
ZachXBTâs investigation revealed that Crypto Beast has previously been associated with other failed token projects, including ALPHA, RICH, YE, RUG, ACE, and JOHN, among others.
Similar patterns have also emerged across multiple platforms, with influencers like Dave Portnoy recently generating controversy after profiting $75,000 from meme coin trades while his followers suffered losses.
1/ An investigation into how @cryptobeastreal scammed followers by lying they were not behind the $190M -> $3M $ALT market cap crash where 45+ connected insider wallets sold $11M+ on July 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/AmnY1xux7a
â ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 22, 2025The prevalence of these schemes has led researchers to examine the psychological tactics employed by crypto influencers in exploiting their followers.
Cambridge Professor Alan Jagolinzerâs research indicates that these operators exploit social-psychological factors, with audiences engaging in âself-destructive behaviour to obtain access or increase statusâ within influencer communities.
The rise of meme coins on platforms like solana has created an environment where low barriers to entry enable rapid token creation and manipulation, with minimal oversight or regulatory intervention.
However, industry observers have characterized the current market cycle by what some term a âcrime supercycle,â where traditional market manipulation tactics have become increasingly normalized within crypto communities.
ZachXBT concluded his investigation by warning that similar schemes will likely continue, stating that the coordination required to acquire a large token supply early while promoting aggressively suggests either direct deployment involvement or collaboration with token creators.
The investigator emphasized that âpeople need to stop blindly following influencer callsâ and called for platform accountability, specifically requesting that Twitter consider suspending accounts involved in repeated scam activities.