Davido Launches His Own Meme Coin, $DAVIDO: A Promising Investment or a Risky Endeavor?

The social media landscape is abuzz with the news that Nigerian music superstar Davido is launching his own meme coin. Meme coins have transcended their origins as humorous, novelty tokens to become a significant segment of the cryptocurrency market.

Nigerian music superstar Davido has launched his own memecoin, joining a growing trend among celebrities entering the cryptocurrency space. Named $DAVIDO, the memecoin is quickly gaining attention within the Nigerian crypto community.

According to Dexscreener data, the memecoin began trading on May 29, 2024, at approximately 6:30 PM WAT. Within just four hours of its launch, the coin hit an all-time high price of around $0.01078 and achieved a market capitalization of $10 million, sparking significant excitement and conversation across the Nigerian X (Twitter) community.

Despite lacking the conventional elements of a structured cryptocurrency project, such as an official website or whitepaper, the $DAVIDO token has already amassed over 16,000 holders in a short span of time. This impressive adoption rate can be attributed to Davido's massive popularity and the viral nature of memecoins.

Interestingly, $DAVIDO is not the first crypto endeavor connected to the musician. Davido's previous involvement in the crypto space has set a precedent, further fueling interest and speculation around this new venture.

Backlash and support on $DAVIDO

Amid the excitement surrounding the project that has yet to achieve a new all-time high (ATH), there has been a mixed reaction from the Twitter community regarding the legitimacy of the memecoin in question.

An X (Twitter) account, The Tradeguru, voiced criticism, claiming that the Solana and Drip project has failed the crypto community by endorsing the Nigerian musician Davido during the launch of the memecoin. The user tweeted, “@solana and @drip_haus endorsed a celebrity scammer @davido who rugged the community of over $600k under 24 hours. $DAVIDO pulled over 1995.40% and was trending #1 on Dextools within the hour.”

Adding to fuel the buzz around the token were posts by Solana, Drip, and Phantom — a popular Solana wallet provider — tagging Davido on X. Posts like this are often construed as endorsements. However, it raises the question: did Solana, Drip, and Phantom tag Davido to endorse the memecoin launched in his name, or was it for a different reason?

In response to the confusion surrounding the endorsement of memecoin launched by Davido, Solana clarified that their post about Davido had nothing to do with any token launch but was related to a music deal the musician had agreed upon with Drip.

They stated, “This is a welcome tweet to an artist who decided to share their music using on-chain tools enabled by @drip_haus. This isn’t an endorsement of any token or links being shilled in the comments.”

Similarly, Drip did not make any comments that suggested they were supporting the memecoin. Although Ansem – an X user known for his affiliation to celebrities and their memecoins, who hosted an X Space with Davido, the CEO of Drip, and other Web3 celebrities, discussed the launch of a memecoin, the conversation focused on how crypto can help musicians connect with their fans, reward them, and earn without intermediaries.

Drip merely noted on their X account, after tagging Davido, that fans could subscribe to their services to receive music collectibles from Davido. Phantom also responded to a post made by Davido, which further fueled speculation.

In an X post, Davido mentioned that the team sold part of the token for marketing purposes, asserting that his intention was for his community's benefit rather than personal gain. He also remarked on his surprise at the number of his fans who were crypto natives.

Meanwhile, another account, BecauseBitcoin, defended against allegations of a rug pull involving $DAVIDO, tweeting, “[𝕏] Solana’s official 𝕏 account welcomed singer Davido, who issued the memecoin $DAVIDO with a ‘pump and dump’ scheme. He bought 20.3% of the tokens for 7 $SOL and sold them for 2,791 SOL profit.”

Despite the negative feedback, some investors reported profits. One user, Sheyi04, posted, “I borrowed small cash from my $WKC and risked investing in $DAVIDO, made gains, sharply cashed out and I knack am back to $WKC in a space of 8hrs”.

On the morning of the controversy, Bitmart, a well-known crypto exchange, announced that $DAVIDO would be listed for trading at 10:00 AM WAT. Similar to posts made by Solana, Drip, and Phantom, announcements of a project listing on an exchange typically generate positive buying activity due to increased exposure.

Following Bitmart's announcement, $DAVIDO saw a significant rise, indicating bullish sentiment among investors. Later, in an X Space hosted by CryptoLord, speculation arose about $DAVIDO potentially being listed on Bybit, further fueling interest and activity around the token.

Acknowledging the inherent volatility of memecoins, an X user named Julius Elum suggested that