Benzinga - Amid a surge in meme coin activity, Sam Bankman-Fried's sentencing led to a massive rally in a meme coin named "Sam Baseman Fraud."
What Happened: Hours before Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a meme coin with the "FTX" ticker rocketed over 35,000% hours before eventually crashing.
Just hours before the sentencing, a developer launched a meme coin called Sam Baseman Fraud (FTX) on the Coinbase layer-2 network Base.
According to Coinmarketcap data, ‘Sam Baseman Fraud's’ lowest price was $0.00004077, while the maximum price was $0.01439. The meme coin started surging hours before Bankman-Fried's sentencing.
Once Judge Lewis A. Kaplan delivered the sentence, the meme coin started crashing before stabilizing at its current price of $0.002065.
Despite the crash, the meme coin is up 187% in the last 24 hours.
See Also: Dogwifhat Flips Pepecoin To Close In On Dogecoin-Killer Shiba Inu, Becomes 3rd Largest Memecoin
This meme coin is the latest in a series of tokens inspired by crypto and political figures. Some other examples include MAGA Meme Coin, and Joe Boden, among others.
Why It Matters: The sentencing of Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty of seven counts of fraud, has been a major talking point in the crypto community.
The judge, Lewis Kaplan, highlighted Bankman-Fried’s intelligence, privilege, and the advantages of his upbringing and education at MIT during the sentencing.
Bankman-Fried’s legal troubles have also sparked reactions from the cryptocurrency community, which debated the leniency of the sentence.
Earlier in 2022, tech billionaire Elon Musk questioned the seriousness of Bankman-Fried’s attempt to set up a “Blockchain Twitter."
Benzinga's Note: Please note that while some investors have reported significant earnings from meme coins like "Sam Baseman Fraud," these digital assets are known for their extreme price volatility. Meme coins often witness rapid price fluctuation, making investments in them highly speculative and risky.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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