KSI addresses crypto pump and dump allegations amid viral exposé
Instagram: KSIKSI has responded to cryptocurrency pump-and-dump “scam” allegations as prominent YouTube investigator Coffeezilla highlighted various transactions brought to light on social media.
Over the past few years, as crypto has become increasingly popular, pump-and-dump schemes have as well. The label applies when a given cryptocurrency is promoted (pumped), leading to a temporary surge in value while they sell off (dump) their investment for a typically huge profit.
From esports org owners to social media celebs, many have been outed for their involvement in such schemes. Now, after fellow Prime Hydration founder Logan Paul found himself in hot water for his actions in the crypto space, so too does KSI find himself at the center of controversy.
The British YouTuber recently signed back into his KSICRYPTO account on X (formerly known as Twitter). Upon doing so, crypto-based investigator ZachXBT highlighted the first account of an alleged pump and dump.
KSI tweeted in March of 2022 that his “$XCAD bag [was] looking juicy again,” along with the hashtag “HodlGang,” a colloquial term in the crypto space meaning to ‘hold’ onto your investment and not sell off despite fluctuations in value.
Zach exposed transactions from KSI’s crypto wallet at the time, as the influencer seemingly sold off “$850,000 worth of XCAD over the following days.” The alleged dump began the very same day he sent that tweet.
In conversation with Coffeezilla, Zach then followed up with accounts of three other similar instances. On one such occasion, KSI tweeted about two NFT coins he was supposedly “very bullish on.”
Six hours after tweeting in apparent support of said coins, he allegedly sold $174,926 worth of one currency, before repeating again a few hours later.
“If that isn’t a textbook pump and dump, I don’t know what is,” Coffee said in his latest YouTube video on the matter.
Contacting KSI directly, Coffee managed to get a response on the accusations, with KSI claiming he’s still part of the “HodlGang” to this day.
Regarding the initial tweet, he claims he “sold some profit (as well as my own money) to put into Luna, thinking I would profit more to buy back more XCAD, and took a major L.”
Despite selling off close to a million in XCAD at the time, allegedly to invest in Luna, KSI claims he still “fully believes in XCAD” and continues holding some of that particular crypto today.
Diving into the other examples, KSI explained they were simply “coins I put my own money into thinking they would do well. I didn’t have any malicious intent in trying to scam.
“ I was new to crypto so I was excited. Putting money in random things trying to chase the pumps and ultimately lost heavily.”
“I hope people didn’t take my advice/tweets as gold because looking at my track record, I was f***ing dogsh**.”
Distancing himself from “scam” accusations, KSI continued in saying “I wish I was an evil genius that would pump and dump at the right time, because at least then people would say I had some wit about me. Reality is, I was just sh** at crypto.
“I put in 2 million of my own money and lost it all in the end. I made zero profit on crypto.”
Addressing direct tweets in which he claimed to be “bullish” on certain tokens, KSI argued he was merely presenting “the opposite” on social media.
“I thought I was getting trolled. Every time I tweeted something, the opposite would happen on the market. So I decided to tweet the opposite of what I was actually doing and still took an L.”
Coffeezilla didn’t exactly “buy” this account of the story, and remains dubious over KSI’s involvement in the crypto space. Beyond his messages to the YouTube investigator, KSI is yet to publicly address the matter in further detail.