The brand behind one of the most-liked photos on the internet entered the cryptocurrency realm earlier this year when a crypto enthusiast acquired the rights to the @world_record_egg Instagram account. With 5.2 million followers, the “egg” is a hot property.
French entrepreneur Mustafa El Fishawy, who in March acquired a 75% stake in Talking Egg, hasn’t disclosed whether he is behind any of the cryptocurrency projects associated with the brand.
The crypto project has drawn fiery criticisms and accusations from the public, while the developers haven’t responded to their investors and community members in months.
This photo was liked 61 million times, second only to Lionel Messi’s World Cup victory photo, which boasts 75 million likes. (world_record_egg)
There have been two Solana tokens called “Just An Egg” launched under the brand since the acquisition and their journeys have been far from smooth. The team behind these two crypto projects claims to have struck a deal with the Instagram account.
Another one was launched on Ethereum almost a year before the Solana tokens, though it has been abandoned. It shares the same “Just An Egg” brand, name, domain and email address, but the team behind the Solana projects stressed that they are not related. Rather, the new team says it bought the rights to “Just An Egg” from the bad egg on Ethereum.
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The first token launch was announced on March 17, 2024, with a $2 million presale on the Solana blockchain. It has proven controversial because data provider DEXTools shows that the token peaked at a $150 million market capitalization but quickly suffered a sharp sell-off.
Critics point to blockchain records that suggest a relatively small amount of SOL may have been used to inflate the price. About 90% of the token’s supply was purchased by three wallets linked by a single Binance withdrawal of 1,725 Solana (SOL) on March 23, the same day the Talking Egg company was officially acquired.
Around 1,725 SOL was dispersed to wallets that purchased most of the $EGG tokens. Source: Solscan
A fourth address appears to tie the three wallets to the internal team. It was also a recipient of the Binance output and used to mint the $EGG token’s nearly 4 billion supply, also on March 23.
A crypto project’s market cap largely depends on how much hype the team can create, Mads Eberhardt, a senior crypto analyst at Steno Research, told Cointelegraph.
He added that “if they own nearly all of [the supply], then surely they can pump it much higher than [$150 million].”
The sudden fall drew allegations related to insiders manipulating the supply from disgruntled observers and investors.
The Just An Egg team blamed the failure of its first token on a rogue developer who got scared and started the selloff, which snowballed. It refunded the presale funds, though investors who participated in open market trading were left with financial damages.
Just An Egg addresses allegations. (Just An Egg)
Several X users complained that the refund was a marketing stunt enabling insiders to acquire more of the token’s supply and dump them at larger profits.
One of the “snipe” transactions brought up by community members is a recipient of the Binance output. (Solscan)
Cointelegraph reached out to Just An Egg and El Fishawy for comments but did not receive a response.
The fresh egg token
A few days later, the same team announced that it would “relaunch” a new $EGG token and ditched the first one.
The second Solana token (the latest one) does not have an official email address linked to it on DEXTools. Its token contract is currently displayed on the Just An Egg official website. At the bottom of this page, its email contact address is the same as the one registered to the first Solana token and the Instagram account.
The latest version of Just An Egg had a peak market capitalization of $32 million but lost half of that in the first few days. Source: DEXTools
The sell-off for this token wasn’t as aggressive as its predecessor and doesn’t reflect the tendencies of a general pump-and-dump scheme. This token has gradually tumbled from its peak of around $30 million market cap to just under $1 million as of Sept. 25.
The developers don’t appear to be responding to queries from investors.
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Their Telegram group has turned into a casual chat space for its community, which frequently requests updates from developers but are ignored. Meanwhile, moderators keep the page active by posting memes from the project’s official X account.
Community members frequently ask for updates, but the developers haven’t responded in months, while moderators preach patience. Source: Just An Egg
The project roadmap on its website states intentions to “fry up the crypto game and poach the top spot among meme coins,” though it doesn’t reveal details on the timeline of their goals.
This silence leaves many investors wondering about the future of what was once a promising and iconic internet phenomenon turned crypto project.
Some investors remain hopeful that the team will come through on their promise of key brand partnerships, merchandise, and products.
There used to be another Just An Egg
A token of the same name launched on the Ethereum chain in May 2023. Like its future Solana counterparts, it shares the same email address: eggshell@justanegg.com.
The Ethereum $EGG token has a bad reputation due to its association with an alleged rug pull in the industry.
Just An Egg community requests evidence that the current team is not linked to the previous ETH team in July. Source: Just An Egg
Cointelegraph has confirmed with DEXTools that this email address was added on May 19, 2023, and hasn’t changed since.
According to DEXTools, the corresponding email address has to be used when filing for information updates with the platform.
Despite this, the team behind the Solana project claims that they are not the same people who launched the project on Ethereum. Instead, they say they purchased the rights to Just An Egg from the previous team, and that a deal was established with the Instagram account to tie the two brands together.
Some investors want their money back
The anonymous nature of the cryptocurrency industry has long made it a breeding ground for scams.
As for El Fishawy, angry investors are blaming him for the project’s past failures and alleged insider activities as his name appears on public documents.
A broader group of alleged victims wants to pursue legal action against Just An Egg as they claim that they have been robbed of their investment, an allegation that the existing team has previously denied.
Social media campaign to take steps toward a lawsuit. Source: Sensey
Just An Egg investor Sensey has launched a social campaign to rally other alleged victims in hopes of building a unified front for a lawsuit.
“My goal is to compile all the complaints and hire a lawyer who will build a solid case to present to the [French Financial Markets Authority],” Sensey told Cointelegraph.
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