{"investigation":{"slug":"soulja-boy-deandre-cortez-way","entity_name":"Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way)","trust_score":12,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.82,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"DeAndre Cortez Way, the rapper known as Soulja Boy, was charged by the SEC in 2023 for undisclosed paid promotion of Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT), named in a 2022 class-action lawsuit alleging a SafeMoon pump-and-dump scheme, and identified by blockchain investigator ZachXBT as a repeat promoter of crypto and NFT projects that were later abandoned or alleged to be rug pulls. The controversy resurfaced in December 2025 when Base co-founder Jesse Pollak publicly backed a new Soulja Boy-linked token, prompting renewed criticism and a public apology from Soulja Boy.","sections":[{"content":"In April 2023, on-chain investigator ZachXBT published research alleging that Soulja Boy tweeted about crypto and NFT projects 73 times between March 2021 and April 2023, and launched or promoted at least 16 NFT collections, including at least nine NFT collections created in 2021 alone. ZachXBT alleged many of the promoted projects were scams or rug pulls, naming tokens including RapDoge, SafeMars, Orion, The Life Token, and Flokinomics. Based on an alleged leaked price list, ZachXBT estimated Soulja Boy charged roughly $12,000 per Instagram promotional post and $10,000 per X (formerly Twitter) promotion, and earned an estimated $730,000 or more from crypto promotions during the 2021 bull market. ZachXBT described Soulja Boy as 'one of the most shameless promoters in the crypto space' and argued that prior legal action had not deterred the behavior. These figures are ZachXBT's own estimates and have not been independently verified through financial records; they should be treated as allegations rather than confirmed facts.","heading":"ZachXBT Investigation: Pattern of Promoting Failed or Alleged Scam Crypto Projects (2021-2023)","sources":[{"url":"https://coindesk.com/web3/2023/04/19/soulja-boy-has-reportedly-been-cranking-out-promotions-for-scam-nft-projects/","name":"CoinDesk: Soulja Boy Has Reportedly Been Cranking Out Promotions for Scam NFT Projects","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/04/20/internet-sleuth-calls-rapper-soulja-boy-shameless-promoter-for-crypto-nft-scams/","name":"CryptoTimes: Internet Sleuth Calls Rapper Soulja Boy 'Shameless Promoter' for Crypto/NFT Scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://thedeepdive.ca/clout-that-soulja-boy-the-rappers-many-crypto-projects-and-scams/","name":"The Deep Dive: Clout That - Soulja Boy the Rapper's Many Crypto Projects and Scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"On March 22, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Justin Sun, three of his affiliated companies, and eight celebrities, including DeAndre Cortez Way (Soulja Boy) and Austin Mahone, in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The SEC alleged that Soulja Boy illegally touted the crypto assets Tronix (TRX) and/or BitTorrent (BTT) without disclosing that he had been compensated for doing so, or the amount of that compensation, in violation of Section 17(b) of the Securities Act. The SEC alleged Sun himself arranged undisclosed payments to celebrity promoters. Most of the other named celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Akon, and Ne-Yo, settled without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, paying a combined total of more than $400,000 in disgorgement, interest, and penalties. Soulja Boy and Mahone did not settle at that time; reporting indicated the SEC was prepared to seek a default judgment against them if they did not respond. Mahone later lost and was ordered to pay roughly $45,724 in disgorgement, interest, and penalties, plus a bar on accepting securities-related compensation for three years. Reporting on the resolution of Soulja Boy's portion of the case is less consistent: one report described him as losing 'by default' with an unclear penalty amount, while a separate report states that as part of a later $10 million settlement between the SEC and Rainberry (the former BitTorrent company) involving Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation, the SEC dismissed its remaining charges against Soulja Boy. AVOID.NET could not independently confirm the final docket disposition of Soulja Boy's individual charges from primary court records within this review; the underlying SEC complaint and press release confirm the charges were filed and that he did not join the initial group settlement.","heading":"SEC Enforcement Action: Undisclosed Paid Touting of TRX/BTT","sources":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-59","name":"SEC Press Release 2023-59: SEC Charges Justin Sun and Eight Celebrities","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-59.pdf","name":"SEC Complaint, No. 23-cv-2433 (S.D.N.Y.)","type":"court_filing","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1165477713/lindsay-lohan-jake-paul-sec-crypto","name":"NPR: Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul charged by SEC over crypto promotion","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://protos.com/soulja-boy-and-austin-mahone-lose-to-sec-justin-sun-still-to-respond/","name":"Protos: Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone lose to SEC, Justin Sun still to respond","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://gizmodo.com/sec-hunts-fines-austin-mahone-and-soulja-boy-over-crypt-1850835083","name":"Gizmodo: SEC Hunts, Fines Austin Mahone and Soulja Boy Over Crypto Promotion","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://tradeinformer.com/?p=13523","name":"TradeInformer: SEC dismisses charges against Soulja Boy and Justin Sun in $10m wash trading settlement","type":"news_article","credibility":3}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"In February 2022, Soulja Boy was named as a defendant, alongside other celebrities including Jake Paul, Nick Carter, Lil Yachty, and Ben Phillips, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the SafeMoon token and its executives, including CEO Braden John Karony. The complaint alleged that SafeMoon and its leadership ran a pump-and-dump scheme in which celebrity promotions, including those by Soulja Boy mainly occurring between March and May 2021, were used to inflate the token's price before insiders sold their holdings, causing losses to retail investors. These are allegations contained in a civil complaint and have not been proven in court; AVOID.NET did not identify public confirmation of a final judgment or settlement specific to Soulja Boy's portion of the case.","heading":"SafeMoon Class-Action Lawsuit (2022)","sources":[{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/safemoon-pump-and-dump-lawsuit-targets-jake-paul-soulja-boy-and-others","name":"Cointelegraph: SafeMoon pump-and-dump lawsuit targets Jake Paul, Soulja Boy and others","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/safemoon-price-plunges-in-response-to-class-action-lawsuit-against-jake-paul-nick-carter-and-souja-boy-202202220843","name":"FXStreet: SafeMoon price plunges in response to class-action lawsuit against Jake Paul, Nick Carter and Soulja Boy","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"On or around December 13-14, 2025, Base (Coinbase's layer-2 network) co-founder Jesse Pollak publicly posted about purchasing roughly $1,500 of a new Soulja Boy-linked memecoin on Base, describing himself as having 'backed' Soulja Boy and having 'instantly earned' on the position. The post drew backlash from the crypto community, most notably from ZachXBT, who publicly questioned why Pollak would 'give SouljaBoy the platform to scam new people,' citing his own April 2023 research into Soulja Boy's history of promoting tokens later alleged to be rug pulls, including RapDoge, Orion, The Life Token, Flokinomics, and SafeMars. The episode renewed public scrutiny of both Soulja Boy's crypto history and Pollak's judgment in publicly endorsing the new token.","heading":"December 2025: Base Co-Founder Jesse Pollak Controversy and Revived Allegations","sources":[{"url":"https://crypto.news/bases-jesse-pollack-faces-scrutiny-over-interaction-with-soulja-boy-scam-token/","name":"crypto.news: Base's Jesse Pollak faces scrutiny over interaction with Soulja Boy scam token","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/base-co-founder-draws-fire-after-backing-soulja-boys-token-despite-repeated-scam-claims/","name":"Cryptonews.com: Base co-founder draws fire after backing Soulja Boy's token despite repeated scam claims","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-investigator-warns-soulja-boy-memecoin","name":"Cointelegraph: Blockchain investigator warns of Soulja Boy memecoin","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Following the renewed December 2025 scrutiny, Soulja Boy posted a public statement on X stating he had 'no knowledge that a scammer named Sahil [Arora] was involved' in some of the promoted projects. He said he had done paid promotions in the past 'without understanding the crypto and NFT space the way I do now,' apologized to investors who lost money, and said the promotions had been managed by third parties he did not personally oversee. He characterized the episode as a years-old mistake he had learned from. The apology drew significant public criticism; on-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps publicly accused him of being a repeat offender who continued to endorse failing projects, and noted he had blocked the firm on X after being called out. Critics broadly dismissed his stated lack of knowledge as insufficient given the scale and duration of the alleged promotional activity documented since 2021.","heading":"Soulja Boy's Public Response and Apology","sources":[{"url":"https://crypto.news/bases-jesse-pollack-faces-scrutiny-over-interaction-with-soulja-boy-scam-token/","name":"crypto.news: Base's Jesse Pollak faces scrutiny over interaction with Soulja Boy scam token","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cryptopotato.com/bubblemaps-mocks-soulja-boys-apology-calls-out-repeat-offender-behavior-in-crypto-promotions/","name":"CryptoPotato: Bubblemaps Mocks Soulja Boy's Apology, Calls Out Repeat Offender Behavior in Crypto Promotions","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/soulja-boy-says-sorry-promoting-crypto-scams/","name":"Cryptopolitan: Soulja Boy says sorry for promoting crypto scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2021-03","event":"ZachXBT later identified this as the approximate start of Soulja Boy's wave of paid crypto/NFT promotions, including an early promotion of the RapDoge token; SafeMoon-related celebrity promotions also occurred between March and May 2021.","source":"Cointelegraph / CoinDesk reporting on ZachXBT investigation","source_url":"https://coindesk.com/web3/2023/04/19/soulja-boy-has-reportedly-been-cranking-out-promotions-for-scam-nft-projects/"},{"date":"2022-02-17","event":"SafeMoon class-action lawsuit naming Soulja Boy, Jake Paul, Nick Carter, Lil Yachty and others as celebrity-promoter defendants is filed, alleging a pump-and-dump scheme.","source":"FXStreet","source_url":"https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/safemoon-price-plunges-in-response-to-class-action-lawsuit-against-jake-paul-nick-carter-and-souja-boy-202202220843","date_evidence":"The suit was filed on February 17, 2022"},{"date":"2023-03-22","event":"SEC announces charges against Justin Sun, affiliated companies, and eight celebrities including Soulja Boy for unregistered securities offerings and undisclosed paid touting of TRX/BTT.","source":"SEC Press Release 2023-59","source_url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-59","date_evidence":"SEC Press Release 2023-59, dated March 22, 2023, announcing the charges"},{"date":"2023-04-19","event":"ZachXBT publishes investigation alleging Soulja Boy made 73 crypto promotions and launched/promoted 16 NFT collections between 2021 and 2023, estimating over $730,000 in promotional earnings.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://coindesk.com/web3/2023/04/19/soulja-boy-has-reportedly-been-cranking-out-promotions-for-scam-nft-projects/","date_evidence":"One ZachXBT post from April 19, 2023"},{"date":"2025-12","event":"Soulja Boy posts on X about creator payout speeds on Base, prompting Jesse Pollak to respond.","source":"crypto.news","source_url":"https://crypto.news/bases-jesse-pollack-faces-scrutiny-over-interaction-with-soulja-boy-scam-token/","date_original":"2025-12-13"},{"date":"2025-12-16","event":"Base co-founder Jesse Pollak's public $1,500 ETH investment in a Soulja Boy-linked token draws criticism from ZachXBT and the crypto community, reviving scrutiny of Soulja Boy's crypto history.","source":"crypto.news","source_url":"https://crypto.news/bases-jesse-pollack-faces-scrutiny-over-interaction-with-soulja-boy-scam-token/","date_evidence":"The article is dated December 16, 2025"},{"date":"2025-12","event":"Soulja Boy posts a public apology on X, saying he was unaware of scammer Sahil Arora's involvement in some promoted projects and regretted insufficient due diligence on past paid promotions.","source":"Cryptopolitan","source_url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/soulja-boy-says-sorry-promoting-crypto-scams/","date_original":"2025-12-14"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://coindesk.com/web3/2023/04/19/soulja-boy-has-reportedly-been-cranking-out-promotions-for-scam-nft-projects/","name":"CoinDesk: Soulja Boy Has Reportedly Been Cranking Out Promotions for Scam NFT Projects","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/04/20/internet-sleuth-calls-rapper-soulja-boy-shameless-promoter-for-crypto-nft-scams/","name":"CryptoTimes: Internet Sleuth Calls Rapper Soulja Boy 'Shameless Promoter' for Crypto/NFT Scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://thedeepdive.ca/clout-that-soulja-boy-the-rappers-many-crypto-projects-and-scams/","name":"The Deep Dive: Clout That - Soulja Boy the Rapper's Many Crypto Projects and Scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-59","name":"SEC Press Release 2023-59: SEC Charges Justin Sun and Eight Celebrities","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-59.pdf","name":"SEC Complaint, No. 23-cv-2433 (S.D.N.Y.)","type":"court_filing","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1165477713/lindsay-lohan-jake-paul-sec-crypto","name":"NPR: Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul charged by SEC over crypto promotion","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://protos.com/soulja-boy-and-austin-mahone-lose-to-sec-justin-sun-still-to-respond/","name":"Protos: Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone lose to SEC, Justin Sun still to respond","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://gizmodo.com/sec-hunts-fines-austin-mahone-and-soulja-boy-over-crypt-1850835083","name":"Gizmodo: SEC Hunts, Fines Austin Mahone and Soulja Boy Over Crypto Promotion","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://tradeinformer.com/?p=13523","name":"TradeInformer: SEC dismisses charges against Soulja Boy and Justin Sun in $10m wash trading settlement","type":"news_article","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/safemoon-pump-and-dump-lawsuit-targets-jake-paul-soulja-boy-and-others","name":"Cointelegraph: SafeMoon pump-and-dump lawsuit targets Jake Paul, Soulja Boy and others","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/safemoon-price-plunges-in-response-to-class-action-lawsuit-against-jake-paul-nick-carter-and-souja-boy-202202220843","name":"FXStreet: SafeMoon price plunges in response to class-action lawsuit against Jake Paul, Nick Carter and Soulja Boy","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.news/bases-jesse-pollack-faces-scrutiny-over-interaction-with-soulja-boy-scam-token/","name":"crypto.news: Base's Jesse Pollak faces scrutiny over interaction with Soulja Boy scam token","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/base-co-founder-draws-fire-after-backing-soulja-boys-token-despite-repeated-scam-claims/","name":"Cryptonews.com: Base co-founder draws fire after backing Soulja Boy's token despite repeated scam claims","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-investigator-warns-soulja-boy-memecoin","name":"Cointelegraph: Blockchain investigator warns of Soulja Boy memecoin","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cryptopotato.com/bubblemaps-mocks-soulja-boys-apology-calls-out-repeat-offender-behavior-in-crypto-promotions/","name":"CryptoPotato: Bubblemaps Mocks Soulja Boy's Apology, Calls Out Repeat Offender Behavior in Crypto Promotions","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/soulja-boy-says-sorry-promoting-crypto-scams/","name":"Cryptopolitan: Soulja Boy says sorry for promoting crypto scams","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"source_tags":[],"addresses":[],"reviewed":false,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-code-investigator","created_at":"2026-09-14T17:16:48.174429+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-27T12:41:36.58+00:00"},"source_quality":{"total":16,"tier1":2,"tier2":3,"tier3":0,"unrated":11},"follower_count":null,"content_updated_at":"2026-10-27T12:41:37.086Z","last_fact_checked_at":null,"fact_check_next_allowed_at":null,"update_next_allowed_at":"2026-11-03T12:41:44.395Z"}