Ronaldinho is the latest soccer star to promote Water Coin, a Solana-based cryptocurrency, on Instagram Earlier this week, soccer legend Lionel Messi promoted Water Coin on Instagram Stories, and the price of Water Coin surged nearly 40% to $0.0012. Water Coin claims to focus on water-related issues and sustainable projects.
Football legend Ronaldinho Gaucho has become the latest to promote the Solana-based Water Coin on his Instagram account.
The retired Brazilian soccer star posted a social media story to his 76.6 million followers, showing a photo of himself with the water coin mascot looking over his shoulder. He also tagged the project’s Instagram account.
Following Ronaldinho’s post, Water Coin’s price surged by around 40% to $0.0012. The excitement did not last long, and at press time, Water Coin’s price was stable at around $0.00088, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Ronaldinho’s participation comes on the heels of another football legend, Lionel Messi.
Earlier this week, the Argentine promoted the Water Coin on his Instagram Stories. Like Ronaldinho, Messi posted a photo of himself with the meme coin mascot peeking over his shoulder, along with a tag to the project’s Instagram account.
It is worth noting that one of the exchanges that lists the Water token is Bitget, a company that Messi has partnered with since 2022.
Facing criticism
According to its website, the charity’s currency aims to “create a net positive impact on [the] “The real world with the help of charity.” However, she does not specify how she will achieve this.
Despite the promotion that a number of famous football players have received, some of them have met their posts with criticism.
Economic analyst @ericonomics wrote of Messi that this is his “third symbolic scam,” adding, “This time it’s water. They probably will soon, so do yourself a favor and don’t buy this stuff.”
“The first was Leafty, which is a carpet (they removed liquidity after about 5 days),” wrote @ericonomics. “The second was PLANET, which is a slow carpet that has dropped ~90% in value since that promotion.”
Similarly, this isn’t the first time Ronaldinho has been linked to a controversial crypto project. Last August, he appeared before a Brazilian parliamentary committee investigating an alleged $61 million cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that used his image without permission.
The scheme, dubbed “18kRonaldinho,” used the soccer star’s image in its marketing while promising investors a 2% daily return. During the investigation, Ronaldinho denied any involvement, claiming he had never been involved with the company.