Soulja Boy (DeShawn Raymond)
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Summary
Soulja Boy (legal name DeAndre Cortez Way; also referenced as DeShawn Raymond) is an American rapper with an extensive, multi-year documented history of promoting cryptocurrency tokens and NFT collections, a large share of which were subsequently identified as rug pulls, abandoned projects, or otherwise fraudulent. On-chain investigator ZachXBT's April 2023 research catalogued 73 crypto promotions and 16 NFT drops linked to him, estimating over $730,000 in promotional earnings, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately charged him in 2023 for undisclosed paid touting of Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT). The pattern resurfaced in December 2025 when Base co-founder Jesse Pollak publicly engaged with a new Soulja Boy-linked meme token, prompting ZachXBT to revive the allegations and renewed industry criticism, followed by a public apology from Soulja Boy.
Connected Entities
1 entitiesTimeline(11 events)
March 2021
Alleged start of Soulja Boy's documented pattern of paid crypto/NFT promotions on social media, per ZachXBT's later research.
CoinDeskJuly 2021
Soulja Boy allegedly promoted the meme token RapDoge, which reportedly rug-pulled shortly after his endorsement.
Base Co-Founder Draws Fire After Backing Soulja Boy's Token (Yahoo Finance)February 2022
Soulja Boy named alongside Jake Paul, Nick Carter, and Lil Yachty in a class-action lawsuit alleging a pump-and-dump scheme involving the SafeMoon token.
CointelegraphMarch 2023
SEC files civil complaint against Justin Sun, his companies, and eight celebrities including Soulja Boy, alleging unlawful paid touting of Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) without disclosure.
SEC.gov complaintApril 2023
ZachXBT publishes research alleging Soulja Boy promoted 73 crypto projects and 16 NFT collections since 2021, earning an estimated $730,000+, many of which were rug pulls or abandoned.
CoinDesk7 August 2023
SEC issues litigation release noting Austin Mahone's settlement ($7,507 disgorgement, $682 interest, $37,535 penalty); Soulja Boy's portion of the case remains unresolved at this point.
SEC.gov Litigation Release LR-25803September 2023
Reporting indicates Soulja Boy failed to respond to the SEC's charges and a default judgment was entered against him; exact penalty amount not confirmed in available reporting.
ProtosDecember 2025
Base co-founder Jesse Pollak publicly replies to a Soulja Boy post, stating he 'just backed the rapper on Base' and 'instantly earned,' widely interpreted as endorsing a new Soulja Boy-linked token (SOULJABOY) launched on Base.
Base's Jesse Pollak backs Soulja Boy token as ZachXBT revives past rug pull claims (Cryptonews.net)December 2025
ZachXBT revives his 2023 research documenting Soulja Boy's rug-pull promotion history in response to Pollak's post; widespread crypto-industry criticism of both Pollak and Soulja Boy follows.
BeInCryptoDecember 2025
Soulja Boy issues a public apology, saying he did not know an associate identified as 'Sahil' was involved in fraudulent promotion arrangements and that he has since 'learned a lot.'
CryptopolitanDecember 2025
On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps publicly criticizes Soulja Boy's apology, characterizing him as a 'repeat offender' whose new tokens on Pump.fun and Base also declined sharply after launch.
CryptoPotatomodel: claude-code-investigator
generated: 9/14/2026, 5:11:46 PM
last updated: 9/14/2026, 6:24:44 PM
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