Catenaa, Saturday, February 22, 2025 – Scammers impersonating Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have launched a fraudulent cryptocurrency, exploiting growing interest in meme coins.
The fake token, dubbed the “Official” Saudi Arabia meme coin (KSA), was announced in a now-deleted post on X on Feb. 17 through an account falsely claiming to represent the crown prince. The post drew immediate skepticism as there were no official government statements backing the project.
Shortly after, the Saudi Law Conference, the actual owner of the compromised X account, confirmed their account had been hacked. In a LinkedIn statement, organizers distanced themselves from any crypto-related announcements made during the breach.
Blockchain analysts note that the scheme follows a pattern seen in the recent collapse of the LIBRA meme coin, which had been falsely linked to Argentine President Javier Milei. That token lost over 94% of its value after insiders cashed out $107 million.
According to Bubblemaps, the same group behind LIBRA may have been involved in another fraudulent launch – Melania (MELANIA). Investigators tracked suspicious transactions between wallets that funded both projects.
The incident highlights the risks of meme coin speculation, a sector that dominated crypto trends in 2024, with 31% of investor interest, according to CoinGecko.
Saudi authorities have not yet commented on the fraudulent token, but investors are being urged to verify projects before participating.
