SHARPEI Dispute About Public Figure Endorsement Rug Pull

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Sharpei Logo/Homepage

Sharpei is a memecoin which is centered around travel and food, with the main character being a dog that travels around to various restaurants around the world. The project claimed to have many large Tier 1 KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) interested in promotional deals. Many of these deals had not been finalized at the time that a slide deck leaked, and the KOLs involved immediately denied their involvement in significant numbers. At this time, a large sale occurred which dropped the project market cap from $40m to $1.23m in a single operation. It appears that there was one entity involved in the sale, who had previously purchased the tokens into hundreds of separate wallets. It is unclear what relationship that entity had to the Sharpei team.

About Sharpei

"Sharpei on Solana is bringing back the proven success of the "dog meta" through a project centered on a dog-traveler-food blogger who embarks on global adventures, exploring various cultures and cuisines. It goes beyond the typical memecoin hype by incorporating real-world applications and partnerships that will create lasting value."

"Our goal is to build out brand globally, so that when people are asked to name a few tokens, they mention $SHAR alongside $DOGE, $ETH, and $BITCOIN."

"We want people who see our logo on the streets, in cafes near their homes, or in stores, to simply scan a QR code, access our website, and buy the token in two clicks using our ecosystem's technical solution - without needing to understand complicated things like exchange registration, KYC, wallet setup, or paying transaction fees."

"Additionally, we support the culture of memecoins and promote travel, which is an integral part of most people's lives today. That's why out token and its ecosystem will also work in reverse, offering not only the ability to purchase it with two clicks but also to use it to pay for travel, favorite restaurants, hotels, and much more. $SHAR isn't just a memecoin - it's a culture, an ecosystem, and a separate world."

"Sharpei is backed by a strong and highly experienced team of over 20 members across analytics, marketing, development, design, and community management departments."

"Our marketing team consists of 10 professionals who have successfully worked with other major token teams, such as Maneki. Additionally, we have outsources experts responsible for marketing on other significant tokens like $MEW, which allows us to (1) Quickly and efficiently onboard Tier 1 KOLs, Secure partnertships with other major tokens and ecosystem projects, Secure partnerships with real-world brands, Gain support from celebrities and influential figures, and Purchase advertising on popular platforms and in crypto hubs."

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

"A dog-themed memecoin project called SHARPEI abruptly cashed out $3.4 million, tanking the token price by more than 96% in seconds."

Key Event Timeline - SHARPEI Dispute About Public Figure Endorsement Rug Pull

Date	Event	Description
October 23rd, 2024 8:21:00 AM MDT	Contract Address PUblished Launch	The project launches with the contract address promoted.
October 23rd, 2024 9:15:00 AM MDT	ZachXBT Shares Tweet With Slide	ZachXBT posts a tweet with the slide from the slide deck about the 50 tier 1 influencers who have been included.
October 23rd, 2024 9:18:00 AM MDT	metaversejoji Denies Involvement	metaversejoji shares his Telegram conversation where he denies his involvement with the project.
October 23rd, 2024 9:23:00 AM MDT	Patty_Fi Denies Involvement	One of the KO's named Patty_Fi denies involvement and asks that their name be removed.
October 23rd, 2024 9:37:00 AM MDT	Pitch Deck Leaks On X	The pitch deck for Sharpei leaks via the X platform.
October 23rd, 2024 10:20:00 AM MDT	Trader_SZ Denies Involvement	Trader_SZ denies being involved.
October 23rd, 2024 3:32:00 PM MDT	Coordinated Large Sale Event	Solshotta posts noting about the very large red candle as the price falls massively from "40m to 1m".
October 23rd, 2024 3:45:00 PM MDT	Yelotree Tweets Was Involved	One KOL named Yelotree comes forward and admits they were involved and others were too who have since deleted their posts.
October 23rd, 2024 4:05:00 PM MDT	Wait For Updates Posted	The team posts that while they never claimed to have backing from individuals on that list, they did contact them all and had "offers and deals from everyone on that list".

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $3,400,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

"The project had been promoted by crypto influencers, but hit a snag when a pitch deck for the project leaked. The deck contained multiple lies, including claims to have hired multiple "KOLs" who later denied involvement, and false claims of partnerships with various platforms and projects. As the token price stuttered along with these revelations, insiders apparently decided to quit while they were ahead, and cashed out in a quick and coordinated sale."

Ultimate Outcome

"We understand what everyone may be thinking right now and want to provide our response. We have genuinely built a large, remarkable project and the entire ecosystem we discussed.

We have been preparing this project for over 3 months, and everyone knows about it

However, due to the FUD, we no longer had the funds to continue operations.

We can provide proof that we communicated with every influencer represented in the pitch deck. While we never claimed to have finalized agreements with everyone, we had offers and deals from everyone on that list"

"Blockchain data visualization company Bubblemaps identified that 60% of the total token supply was bought at launch and spread across more than 100 addresses. Every single one of these addresses then sent its supply to a central wallet, which sold everything in one clip for $3.4 million. The firm confirmed to Decrypt that it would define this as a rug pull."

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.