GameStop Memes (GMS), an unofficial project that aims to capitalize on the success of Wall Street Memes (WSM) token, has successfully raised $4 million from investors, as announced by the project’s official X account on February 14. However, some investors have raised concerns, alleging that the project is an ongoing presale that takes away investors’ cryptocurrency without providing any tokens in return.
One investor, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed to Cointelegraph that despite spending $1,000 to purchase GMS tokens through the project’s website, he never received them. The developers reportedly informed him that the tokens would only be delivered once the presale was completed. Moreover, they refused to disclose a specific end date for the presale, stating that it would only conclude once all the tokens were sold. The investor claimed that the presale seemed to be never-ending.
In a conversation with Cointelegraph through Telegram, the GameStop Memes development team confirmed that the tokens would not be sent to investors until after the presale concluded. Although they did not provide a definite end date for the presale, they mentioned that if it failed to sell out, they had plans to match the amount of presale allocation.
It is important to note that GameStop Memes is not affiliated with the official GameStop retailer’s trademark or its chain of retail stores. Cointelegraph reached out to GameStop for comments but did not receive a response by the time of publication. On the memecoin’s website, the project falsely claims to have a partnership with Cointelegraph.
GameStop Memes draws inspiration from Wall Street Memes, an earlier project that raised over $25 million during its presale. The story of Wall Street Memes began in 2019 when members of the r/WallStreetBets subreddit launched an online store at Wallstmemes.com, featuring merchandise with Wall Street-themed designs. In January 2021, WallStreetBets gained attention for orchestrating a short squeeze on GameStop’s shares, bringing renewed focus to the Wallstmemes.com website associated with the Reddit group.
Wallstmemes.com was not connected to any Web3 projects at the time. However, in May 2023, a group of developers introduced Wall Street Memes, a memecoin project that aimed to capitalize on the success of the website. The WSM presale had different stages with increasing prices. The team allocated 50% of the raised funds to marketing, generating interest in the coin as the presale progressed. By September 18, over $25 million had been raised, and the token was listed on the OKX crypto exchange on September 26.
On the secondary market, WSM reached a peak price of nearly $0.07 on September 30, 2023, according to CoinMarketCap data. Currently, it is valued at $0.0082. The WSM development team recently launched a casino app and a new version of the coin on the BNB Smart Chain, with plans to allow holders of the old token to redeem it for the new one.
Cointelegraph contacted the Wall Street Memes development team to determine if there was an association with the new GameStop Memes token. In response, a representative from WSM clarified that they were solely a different project.
The GameStop Memes website was launched in October and features a similar background and user interface as the previous Wall Street Memes site. The presale is currently listed as being in “Stage 1.” The website claims that GMS emerged from the success of Wall Street Memes and aims to continue its legacy as the “champion of champions” that the community needs.
On its site, GameStop Memes asserts partnerships with various crypto media publications, including Cointelegraph. However, it is important to note that Cointelegraph is not affiliated with GameStop Memes.
The Cointelegraph news team connected an Ethereum wallet to the project’s interface to investigate the process of buying the coin. Deposits in Ether (ETH) or Tether (USDT) were sent to an address ending in CE60f1. If Tether was deposited, the account often exchanged it for ETH. Additionally, the account periodically made deposits to the ChangeNOW crypto exchange, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.
The address also transferred funds to another address ending in 21b3B, which subsequently distributed them to centralized exchanges such as Binance, Crypto.com, and Paribu.
Despite the ongoing presale, GameStop Memes has not distributed any tokens to investors. The tokens are still held in the deployer account associated with the token’s contract. The project’s admin emphasized that they aim to create more than just a memecoin, envisioning a protocol that adds tangible value, fosters a strong community, and creates a sustainable ecosystem around the token. However, no specific end date for the presale was provided.
Blockchain data shows that investors are still purchasing the coin, with the latest deposit occurring on February 19. While developers have not sent the tokens to investors, they have also not sold them on the market, as the total supply remains in the deployer account.