George Santos’ Q-Themed Token Plummets After Former Lawmaker Steps Aside

Here today, gone tomorrow.

The phrase rings true for many meme coins that have cropped up so far this year, as assets that trade on little more than vibes. Increasingly promoted on social media by recognizable names, a few inspired by the celebrity-saturated trend have succumbed to headwinds too, as promoters eventually swap crypto hype for regular programming on social media.

Former U.S. Representative George Santos, who was expelled from Congress last year, stands as a politically connected example. As crypto regulation became a growing rallying cry for conservatives weeks ago—thanks to former President Donald Trump—the notorious New Yorker expressed an interest in meme coins on Twitter (aka X), pondering people’s excitement.

Not long after, Santos shared Q in a post, inviting others to “storm” the Solana blockchain with him as “Qanouns.” Santos later clarified online that his Twitter account wasn’t hacked—but that was the second-to-last time he’d mention the meme coin, which combines a far-right conspiracy with the open-source IP from the NFT project Nouns DAO.

I’m Not HACKED! $Q pic.twitter.com/EWijvj12PJ

— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) June 19, 2024

The former lawmaker said he was stepping away from the crypto project two days after his initial Q post, and that he had been approached to join, initially. Asking its developer to burn his tokens and remove them from circulation, Santos said he “learned a lot” in that short time.

“I came to the conclusion that the community will grow better organically, and I wish you all well,” he wrote. “I’m rooting from afar.”

Attention🚨🚨🚨

Everyone in the $q project… I am officially Burning my entire wallet. I have asked the Dev to do so and I’m walking.

I came to the conclusion that the community will grow better organically and I wish you all well.

This was a project I was pitched to join and… https://t.co/Q7OUY754gz

— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) June 21, 2024

Since Santos stepped aside, trading for Q has virtually disappeared. Over the past day, the meme coin has mustered less than $7—yes, seven dollars—worth of trading volume, according to GeckoTerminal.

Q’s peak price was on the day it was introduced, too. After surging to $0.005 on June 19, the asset’s price has collapsed 99.6% to $0.00002, yielding a market cap of $18,400, as of this writing.

On Twitter, Santos shared a link to a digital wallet with his Q holdings. Currently, it contains 200,000 “George Santos” (G), a completely different, illiquid meme coin, according to Solscan.

Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

At one point, Qanouns’ Twitter page warned of scammers trying to hijack the project’s likeness through a competing coin on Pump.fun. Still, the fake coin highlighted by the project’s team has seen more activity recently, involving burns and transfers, than the asset that Santos promoted.

As a protocol that lets anyone launch a token on Solana for only a few dollars’ worth of crypto, Pump.fun has exploded in popularity over the past few months. Leveraged by celebrities such as Iggy Azalea, some promoters have successfully used the tool to influence a following.

Yet the one-time lawmaker may have found a better way to connect with his supporters. Following his brief stint in the crypto space, Santos announced he was starting an OnlyFans.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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