According to CoinDesk, American celebrity Caitlyn Jenner has reportedly launched a token, JENNER, on the Solana blockchain. However, the legitimacy of this token has been questioned due to previous instances of celebrity account compromises.
Despite doubts and allegations of a hack, Jenner's account continued to promote the token, even releasing a video that seemed to verify its authenticity. Late Sunday, a post on Jenner’s account claimed she had issued the JENNER token using the Solana token deployer Pump Fun. This was quickly dismissed by market participants as a probable hack, given the history of celebrity accounts being compromised to falsely promote tokens or crypto protocols.
Typically, such account breaches are detected early and promptly shut down by security teams. However, Jenner’s account continued to advertise the token hours after the initial launch. A post on the account stated, 'Nothing has been hacked,' and another post claimed a focus on $Jenner with an expectation to hit a $50m market cap in the first 24 hours.
The token was likely viewed with skepticism by market observers, as several American celebrities have previously faced charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for promoting tokens. About six hours after the token's issuance, Jenner’s account released a video that seemed to show the celebrity discussing the token. The post specifically stated it was not a 'deep fake,' and claimed the token had recorded over $113 million in trading volumes in just four hours.
A separate video post appeared to show Jenner’s manager Sophia Hutchins confirming that the token was real and that she was 'managing the crypto project.' Some users dismissed that video as a deep fake. Posts promoting the token were also reportedly made on Jenner’s Instagram account, but CoinDesk did not see these posts on Jenner’s account, suggesting they may have been removed.
Meanwhile, only 4% of participants voted 'Yes' on the 'Was Caitlyn Jenner hacked?' market on the predictions platform Polymarket. The market had attracted over $1.2 million in bets as of early in the European afternoon. A request for comment posted through Jenner's website was not immediately answered on a U.S. national holiday.