GameStop Memes (GMS), an unofficial project aiming to capitalize on the success of the Wall Street Memes (WSM) token, has raised $4 million from investors, according to a post from the project’s official X account on Feb. 14. However, some investors claim that it is an ongoing presale that takes away their crypto without giving them anything in return.
An anonymous investor who spoke to Cointelegraph said that despite spending $1,000 on purchasing GMS tokens through the project’s website, he never received them. The developers allegedly informed him that the tokens would only be delivered after the presale ended. Furthermore, they refused to provide him with an exact end date for the presale, stating that it would continue until all the tokens were sold. The investor claimed that the presale was ongoing and never-ending.
In a conversation with Cointelegraph, the GameStop Memes development team confirmed that the tokens would only be sent to investors after the presale concluded. However, they did not provide a definite end date for the presale, but mentioned that they had plans in place to match the presale allocation if it failed to sell out.
GameStop Memes does not seem to be affiliated with the official GameStop retailer or its brand of retail stores. GameStop was contacted for comments, but no response was received at the time of publication. The project falsely claims to be partnered with Cointelegraph on its website.
GameStop Memes is inspired by and seeks to replicate the success of a previous project called Wall Street Memes, which 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. The store featured merchandise with Wall Street-themed designs. In January 2021, WallStreetBets gained notoriety for orchestrating a short squeeze on GameStop shares, bringing attention to the Wallstmemes.com website.
Wallstmemes.com initially had no connection to any Web3 projects, but in May 2023, a group of developers created Wall Street Memes, a memecoin project that aimed to capitalize on the website’s success. It is unclear whether the two teams were associated with each other or if the website was sold to the memecoin project’s team before October.
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. The token was listed on the OKX crypto exchange in September 2023.
On the secondary market, WSM reached a peak price of nearly $0.07 on Sept. 30, 2023. It is currently 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 for holders of the old token to redeem it for the new one.
Cointelegraph contacted the Wall Street Memes development team to inquire about its association with the new GameStop Memes token. A representative stated that they are solely a different project.
The GameStop Memes website was launched in October and features a similar design to the earlier Wall Street Memes site. The presale is listed as being in “Stage 1.” The site claims that GMS emerged from the success of Wall Street Memes and aims to continue its legacy in the crypto space.
The GameStop Memes website claims partnerships with various crypto media publications, including Cointelegraph. However, Cointelegraph is not a partner of GameStop Memes.
The Cointelegraph news team connected an Ethereum wallet to the project’s interface to investigate the buying process. Deposits in ETH or USDT were sent to an address ending in CE60f1. Tether deposits were often swapped for ETH. The account also periodically made deposits to the ChangeNOW crypto exchange.
The address also transferred funds to another address ending in 21b3B, which then sent them to centralized exchanges like Binance, Crypto.com, and Paribu.
Despite the ongoing presale, no GMS tokens have been distributed to investors. The token’s contract was created on Oct. 4, 2023, with the total supply of 1 billion GMS sent to the deployer account. The tokens remain in the deployer account, and no distribution has occurred.
In a Telegram chat, an admin from GameStop Memes mentioned that the token aims to be more than just a memecoin and intends to develop a protocol that adds value, fosters a strong community, and creates a sustainable ecosystem. However, no specific end date for the presale was provided.
Blockchain data shows that investors continue to purchase the coin, with the latest deposit occurring on Feb. 19. The developers have neither sent the tokens to investors nor sold them on the market, as they remain in the deployer account.