Moltbot Founder Denies Meme Coin Involvement as Scammers Exploit Clawdbot Rebrand in 2026 Crypto Chaos
Another day, another rebrand gone wrong—and another founder scrambling to distance themselves from the fallout.
The Rebrand That Backfired
Scammers pounced almost immediately after the Clawdbot rebrand announcement. Fake social media accounts, phishing links disguised as "official" airdrops, and a flurry of copycat meme coins bearing suspiciously similar logos flooded the usual crypto channels. The playbook is tired, but it still works—just ask anyone who's ever clicked a "wallet verification" link from a fake Elon Musk tweet.
Founder's Firm Denial
The Moltbot founder's statement was swift and absolute: no involvement, no endorsement, no plans to launch a token. The message was clear—this was an opportunistic hijacking, not an inside job. It's the crypto equivalent of someone spray-painting over your store sign and then trying to sell counterfeit goods out front.
The Meme Coin Minefield
This incident highlights the persistent vulnerability of crypto projects to brand impersonation. A simple name change or logo update creates a perfect smokescreen for bad actors. They thrive in the confusion, banking on the FOMO that drives so much meme coin volume—because nothing says "sound investment" like a token named after a cartoon animal that launched five minutes ago.
The Cost of Crypto's Wild West
While the founder cleans up the mess, users are left navigating yet another scam-ridden landscape. It underscores a frustrating reality in decentralized finance: innovation moves at light speed, but security and verification often crawl. The whole episode feels like watching someone build a mansion on quicksand while selling timeshares for the penthouse.
In the end, it's a classic crypto tale—a project tries to evolve, the parasites follow, and everyone gets a stark reminder that in this space, your reputation is only as strong as the worst actor using your name. Just another Tuesday in the digital asset world, where due diligence remains the one coin you can't afford not to hold.
What happened during Clawdbot’s rebranding?
In a post explaining the situation, Steinberger wrote, “Had to rename our accounts for trademark stuff and messed up the GitHub rename, and the X rename got snatched by crypto shills.”
Steinberger later clarified that the name change was not voluntary. “Crypto folks: I was forced to rename the account by Anthropic. Wasn’t my decision,” he stated.
The original Clawdbot account no longer exists, as it seems the X team has taken it down.
However, it created an opening for individuals promoting cryptocurrency schemes, a development that has caused confusion among the project’s legitimate user base and opened the door for scammers to falsely associate Steinberger with token launches.
Viral project becomes scam magnet
Clawdbot, which Steinberger named after his AI assistant “Clawd,” had achieved remarkable organic growth before the controversy. The open-source project garnered 9,000 GitHub stars within 24 hours of launch and crossed 60,000 stars by day three, making it one of the fastest-growing developer tools in recent memory.
The self-hosted AI assistant allows users to run an AI agent locally with full system access, integrating with multiple messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and Discord. Its popularity and that of the founder may have made it an attractive target for crypto scammers looking to capitalize on viral technology trends.
However, due to trademark reasons, the project had to be rebranded and is now known as Moltbot.
What is Steinberger saying regarding the project?
The Moltbot founder has made it clear that he WOULD not accept any fees or compensation related to cryptocurrency projects. “You are actively damaging the project,” he told those continuing to associate him with tokens.
The Moltbot project continues under its new branding, though the incident has raised questions about the vulnerability of technology founders to cryptocurrency-related harassment and impersonation.
Steinberger himself has posted an update on the recovery of his GitHub account, clarifying that it was his personal account that was hijacked and has now been recovered. He wrote, “GitHub’s resolved. This only affected my personal account, not the org (messed up the rename).”
He stated that it will take another day to resolve the X account issue, adding that the original X handle is @moltbot and “not any of the 20 scam variations of it.”
Steinberger also informed users that they do not need to do anything for the next release, as the update will work just as before.
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