During an NFT conference in New York City last week, a Tesla Cybertruck rolled onto Times Square. The famous DJ Marshmello, accompanied by a crypto influencer and a well-known NFT project founder, hopped into the backseat and started blaring tunes to the rapidly gathering crowd.

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For a while, many Crypto Twitter users genuinely believed that the helmeted figure was the real deal, the renowned DJ himself, and that he was a fan of MOG, the meme coin depicted on the imposter DJ’s sweater. However, the scheme quickly unraveled when the real Marshmello tweeted that he was in Chicago, responding with a series of tweets about the stunt.

“Guys, it ain’t me, dude,” he wrote on Twitter. “That’s not Marshmello, that’s some chubby old guy trying to fool people into thinking his fake crypto project is worth something.”

Marshmello even threatened legal action, stating, “Lawyers are already on it.”

Trick to Catch Elon Musk’s Eye

The crypto community’s reaction to the revelation that it wasn’t actually Marshmello was swift: some expressed outrage and disappointment at the deceptive stunt, while others found it all quite amusing.

Despite Marshmello’s statements and the views of many crypto observers, SolJakey said that the Times Square activation wasn’t intended to promote the meme coin — he insisted that was never the goal.

On Tuesday, he shared a behind-the-scenes video of the stunt on Twitter. We witness their strategic planning, speaker rentals, and the frantic search for an alternate Cybertruck after the original rental fell through, culminating in a performance that was promptly halted by police.

SolJakey explained that about two weeks before NFT NYC, he and his friends pulled off a similar stunt in Los Angeles and wanted to replicate its viral success. This stunt was unrelated to NFTs and cryptocurrency.

We created a pool in the bed of a Tesla Cybertruck in Beverly Hills to catch Elon Musk’s attention. Elon actually responded, and we ended up on Fox News. When you use a Cybertruck, you get more eyes than a Lamborghini.

Inside Scoop: The Mog Coin Sweater

SolJakey mentioned that his DJ friend was supposed to wear a helmet but had to cancel at the last minute, so another friend, known as OG, stepped in. The influencer claims that the substitute DJ accidentally ended up in a sweatshirt featuring the familiar logo in the shades of the meme coin Ethereum Mog Coin.

OG tweeted something similar on Tuesday, writing: “Anyone who thinks wearing the Joycat sweater was pre-planned is overestimating my foresight.”

“The reason people bought into the Mog Coin story was because he was wearing a Mog sweater,” SolJakey added. “The community kind of rolled with it. There was never an intention to pump the coin. We just wanted to pull off a stunt to catch Elon’s eye.”

The video also featured Rohun “Frank” Vora, creator of the DeGods and y00ts NFT projects. He joked that it was a double during the aftermath of Marshmello, but it was actually him in the footage.

He joined us, and we asked him to just sit in the Cybertruck. It added a viral boost because it was contradictory. He jokingly said it wasn’t him.

SolJakey

However, earlier, Frank tweeted about Mog Coin, including “attaching” social media and boxer Bryce Hall’s personality to the coin. Bringing Marshmello into the fold could also have been seen as an impulse shift for the token.

Trying to capitalize on Marshmello’s fame without his consent or involvement draws attention to broader issues of trust, authenticity, and ethical boundaries in the crypto world. As the industry already grapples with skepticism due to its association with speculative trading, fraud, and regulatory scrutiny, such tactics can undermine the legitimacy of the crypto industry.

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And as for the DJ’s legal threat? Nothing came of it — at least not yet. SolJakey said he hasn’t received any messages from Marshmello’s team or legal representatives.

Even if this move wasn’t aimed at pumping the meme coin, as SolJakey claims, it was one of the crypto community’s most important takeaways. He apologized for causing negativity towards cryptocurrency and the MOG team but didn’t regret using the helmet for the stunt.

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