cryptopolitan.com
Crypto has a new main character, the influencer Murad Mahmudov, who emerged in 2024 and looks set on raising the heat on the meme token market. Murad, as he has come to be known, not only holds whale-sized wallets, but has achieved gains to give him a status of a market prophet.
The wallets of Murad Mahmudov, meme token influencer, have been doxxed by on-chain researcher ZachXBT. The influencer, who put his brand forward during the Token 2049 event, has also connected to some of the most prominent meme tokens.
ZachXBT pointed out 11 wallets that belong to Murad with high probability. The wallets will be closely watched by the community, and can sway the price action of multiple tokens. Any buying or selling could amplify the market cycle.
https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1843940648430493906
For some, the move to reveal the wallets is bearish, as the addresses are now known and priced into the market. Whale wallets are one of the sources of copy-trading and tips for selecting meme tokens.
ZachXBT has criticized crypto influencer Ansem in the past for over-promising and hyping meme tokens. Murad Mahmudov has a similar approach of picking micro-cap memes, while also controlling a significant part of the supply. ZachXBT expects retail buyers to be able to make informed decisions, without overhyped messages for volatile memes.
Murad has not been shy about the selections, and the wallet scrutiny will reveal if he is also selling a token, while also shilling it to the community. The closely watched wallets may also turn Murad into a holder, which would give an even bigger support to the tokens in his portfolio.
The meme token market has been relatively liquid, and has absorbed profit-taking from whales. But Murad’s wallets, now exposed and watched, will be different and may draw outsized criticism for taking profits.
Are memes in a super cycle yet?
Memecoins are in a super cycle, and there is a list of potential high-performers – this is the main thesis of Murad. Meme tokens are extremely prone to hype, and Murad has created a meta-hype for a whole portfolio of meme selections.
But Murad is not a shy anonymous whale making smart money choices – he is also an active promoter of all the tokens in the portfolio. Beyond trading skills, he is also creating a cult persona and a following.
For some meme tokens, a loyal community of holders is key to their price performance. In this case, Murad has raised a community that is ready to hold the entire portfolio. The message is that the meme super cycle is just getting started, and Murad seems to be at the head of the new cult.
The Meme Stock craze of 2021 was just a test run for the Memecoin Supercycle.
Things haven’t even begun yet.
— Murad 💹🧲 (@MustStopMurad) October 8, 2024
The influencer approach also brought forward the critics, who are wary of high-profile personalities and token shilling. In the case of meme coins, heavy promotion also goes hand in hand with sniping and insider holdings.
The high-profile performance of Murad makes it no surprise that a new meme token has been launched in his name. The brand-new token, launched on October 9 on the Solana chain, has very thin liquidity, but reflects the emergence of a cult influence.
Murad’s biggest holding is SPX, with 30M tokens in his wallet, valued at $17M. On decentralized markets, SPX has a much lower liquidity, meaning Murad will have to hold to support the token. The exposure of SPX is already creating ripples across the meme token market, where another whale spent $2.6M to buy the token. Murad’s wallets are currently not active, based on Bubble maps data.
Soon after the wallets were exposed, another one of the Murad holdings, POPCAT, changed its trading profile. POPCAT revealed an 85% bonding curve cluster, with rapid trading activity, which did not look organic.
After the event, POPCAT continued to slide toward $1.17, away from its all-time high above $1.47. Murad is not even among the top 150 holders of POPCAT, but he is certainly a high-profile promoter, drawing attention to the asset, while allowing insiders to also take profits or snipe at low prices.