American rapper and record producer DeAndre Cortez Way, professionally known as Soulja Boy, is once again under scrutiny for his past involvement in cryptocurrency and NFT promotions.
The artist, best known for his hit “Crank It,” has publicly apologised for endorsing projects that later collapsed or were flagged as scams, amid mounting criticism from blockchain investigators and the crypto community.
Soulja Boy is recognised as one of the first artists to leverage the internet and platforms like YouTube and MySpace for mainstream music success.
Soulja Boy addressed the controversy in a statement posted on X early Monday, acknowledging failures in his past judgment.
“I want to be clear and transparent. I had no knowledge that a scammer named Sahil was involved or paying me to promote anything fraudulent. At the time, I was doing paid promos without understanding the crypto/NFT space the way I do now. This was years ago, and I’ve learned a lot since then.”
He apologised to followers who suffered losses, adding,
“I take responsibility for not doing deeper due diligence back then, and I’ve moved very differently since. Growth is learning from mistakes.”
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT’s research revealed that between March 2021 and 2023, Soulja Boy promoted at least 73 crypto tokens and NFT projects.
Of these, 16 NFT collections later collapsed, were abandoned, or were outright fraudulent.
One example, the meme token RAPDOGE, was promoted in mid-2021 with the encouragement of other celebrities, including Lil Yachty and Quavo.
Within hours, liquidity was withdrawn and the project became defunct, leaving investors with significant losses.
Other projects cited included Orion and The Life Token, which used charitable causes such as cancer and suicide prevention as a promotional tool before collapsing shortly afterwards.
A separate token, Flokinomics, falsely claimed connections to Elon Musk and paid for media exposure before losing liquidity.
ZachXBT estimates that Soulja Boy earned over $730,000 from these promotions during the period.
These promotions also drew the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which filed complaints against the rapper and other celebrities, alleging unlawful promotion of Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens without proper disclosure of compensation.
Soulja Boy’s past crypto involvement also included a lawsuit connected to the failed c project, where he and other influencers were accused of misleading investors.
Despite his apology, recent activity on the Base platform, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2 network, has reignited concern.
Base co-founder Jesse Pollak publicly interacted with Soulja Boy, framing the platform as a new monetisation tool for creators.
Many interpreted the exchange as an implicit endorsement of a new meme token linked to the rapper, prompting criticism from developers, traders, and researchers.
ZachXBT highlighted the pattern, noting Soulja Boy’s history of promoting high-risk projects that later failed, from RAPDOGE to Orion and The Life Token.
Analysts worry that repeated celebrity-driven promotions could harm trust within the crypto ecosystem, particularly when senior figures in mainstream networks publicly engage with individuals tied to these projects.
The apology did little to calm critics.
On-chain analytics platform Bubblemaps mocked the statement, portraying Soulja Boy as a repeat offender.
The platform outlined a sarcastic timeline: promoting scam tokens in 2021, making “easy money,” watching the projects collapse, disappearing for years, then launching new meme coins on Base that again failed.
Bubblemaps also noted that Soulja Boy blocked the platform on X after the exposure.
As the debate over celebrity influence in crypto continues, Soulja Boy’s case highlights ongoing questions around accountability, transparency, and due diligence in the rapidly evolving world of digital assets.
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