A fortunate cryptocurrency trader transformed a $3,000 investment into approximately $2 million in just hours after Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao tweeted about a BNB Chain memecoin on X.
Blockchain data indicates that the trader, identified by wallet address “0x872,” was among the first to purchase the newly launched “4” ($4) token, according to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain. The trader’s initial $3,000 worth of BNB (BNB) surged to $2 million, reflecting around a 650-fold return on investment.
Despite the substantial profits, the trader sold only a small fraction of their holdings, retaining $1.88 million in tokens.
The “4” token emerged following a phishing attack on the BNB Chain, where the hacker allegedly made only $4,000 in profit before the community capitalized on the incident and turned it into a meme.
The trader seems to have aimed to leverage the social excitement surrounding the memecoin, with over 98% of their crypto portfolio tied up in 4.
The trader’s portfolio has generated over $1.8 million in unrealized profit in the past week, per data from CoinStats.
Highly successful cryptocurrency traders, categorized as “smart money” traders on Nansen’s blockchain intelligence platform, have also invested in the memecoin.
The “4” memecoin ranked as the third-most-bought token by smart money traders in the last 24 hours on the BNB Chain, with nearly $100,000 worth acquired, according to data from Nansen .
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Although lacking intrinsic utility, memecoins have previously minted millionaires among crypto traders.
In March, another trader reportedly grew a $2,000 investment to as much as $43 million by acquiring the frog-themed Pepe (PEPE) memecoin. Nonetheless, the trader endured Pepe’s 74% decline from its all-time high, which reduced the unrealized $43 million profit to $10 million at the time of sale.
An additional investor turned $27 into $52 million in May 2024, based on on-chain data.
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CZ’s X post sends “4” memecoin parabolic
Interest in the “4” token spiked following Zhao’s repost of the BNB Chain’s announcement about the phishing incident to his 8.9 million followers on X.
“Interestingly, after the hacker dumped ALL his tokens for a $4k gain, the community took over and bought the meme coin higher, as a mock to the hacker,” Zhao stated in a Wednesday X post.
Minutes before Zhao’s X post, another unidentified wallet acquired the memecoin. Just hours after the trade, it recorded over $1.5 million in profit, as evidenced by a Wednesday X post from blockchain data visualization platform Bubblemaps.
Zhao’s announcement arrived shortly after the BNB Chain’s official X account was momentarily compromised on Wednesday, as reported by Cointelegraph.
The attacker exploited this breach to share phishing links and promote the memecoin to the page’s more than four million followers.
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