Influencer ‘Crypto Beast’ Exposed for $190 Million Pump-and-Dump Scheme

Crypto investigator ZachXBT has exposed crypto influencer “Crypto Beast” for orchestrating a coordinated pump-and-dump scheme that wiped out over $187 million in market value from the ALT token in minutes.

On July 14, the price of ALT collapsed from $0.19 to $0.003, sending the market cap plummeting from $190 million to just $3 million.

Another Pump-and-Dump Captures Attention

ZachXBT’s on-chain analysis revealed that 45 wallets linked to Crypto Beast collectively dumped over $11 million in ALT during the crash.

These wallets had been funded through instant exchange services and traced back to a single Celestia address linked to Crypto Beast.

The influencer had heavily promoted ALT on X and Telegram throughout early July. His posts touted the token’s upside, drawing in thousands of retail investors. All promotional posts have since been deleted.

However, on-chain evidence tells a different story.

ZachXBT linked Crypto Beast’s public wallet—shared by the influencer himself in now-deleted posts—to the same Celestia address that funded all 45 dumping wallets.

The chain of transactions shows that he directly financed the wallets used to offload the token.

In response to the backlash, Crypto Beast denied involvement and blamed anonymous “snipers” for the crash.

Meanwhile, ZachXBT confirmed a smaller sniper cluster did sell around $2.6 million in tokens. But the bulk of the damage—$11 million—came from wallets tied to the influencer.

ALT Token Crash. Source: CoinGecko

Additional wallets linked to Crypto Beast still hold over 89 million ALT tokens, around 10% of the total supply. This raises concerns of further dumps.

ALT Token is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

The ALT token is not a meme coin but the governance and utility token of AltLayer, a modular rollup project launched via Binance Launchpool in January 2024.

The token’s initial distribution included an airdrop to 40,000+ wallets and a market debut supported by Binance.

The crash has damaged confidence in ALT and renewed criticism of influencer-driven speculation in the crypto space.

Crypto Beast has a history of promoting tokens that later collapsed. ZachXBT cited his involvement in previous rug pulls, including ALPHA, RICH, YE, RUG, ACE, and JOHN.

After briefly deactivating his account, Crypto Beast returned to X, running giveaways to attract new followers. ZachXBT warned that this behavior could signal preparation for future schemes.

The incident highlights the risks of following unverified influencers and the growing role of on-chain analysis in exposing fraud.

Authorities have yet to comment on whether regulatory action will follow. In the meantime, investors are urged to verify tokenomics, liquidity depth, and wallet behavior before committing capital.