The popular meme coin, BOB, experienced a dramatic 45% price drop on Sunday, influenced by social media platform, Twitter’s, suspension of an automated bot associated with the coin. This action occurred shortly after Twitter owner Elon Musk referred to the account as a “scam”.
This isn’t the only account to face the chopping block; another bot, @AskTheWassie, which is a comical frog and operates similarly to @ExplainThisBob, also found itself suspended on Sunday. Musk’s opinion on the matter was clear, as he conveyed through a tweet: “Promotion of scams under the guise of being a funny/helpful bot will result in suspension. Doesn’t matter how much you pay us.”
In a potentially causative effect, BOB prices plunged from $0.000031 to $0.000016 on Sunday as traders’ reactions to Twitter’s actions seemingly impacted the market value. This has led to a continued slide since early May when the token reached its peak capitalization of $74 million, currently sitting at a market capitalization of $13 million.
The automated @ExplainThisBob account gained significant attention and popularity in late April, largely attributed to its humorous summaries and comedic responses to tweets. In an interesting turn of events, Musk himself replied, “I love bob,” to an @ExplainThisBob tweet, which resulted in a price surge for BOB at the time.
Musk’s engagements with the Bob bot didn’t stop there. As recently as June, he responded to a political discussion involving the bot by saying, “Once again, Bob nails it.” However, just last week, Musk’s tone shifted as he announced Twitter’s intentions to clamp down on accounts that appeared to “game its verification system” and “self-promote or advertise in a misleading way.”
On one hand, this event highlights the potential vulnerability of the cryptocurrency market to external factors, especially influential figures like Elon Musk. Nevertheless, it also sheds light on the importance of holding transparent and legitimate platforms accountable, in order to maintain trust within the blockchain and cryptocurrency community.
In conclusion, the series of events that led to the devaluation of BOB serves as a learning experience for crypto enthusiasts, emphasizing the impact of social media and prominent figures on the market. Moreover, it stresses the necessity for maintaining credibility within the cryptocurrency landscape, ensuring that reliable and genuine projects are the ones that ultimately thrive.
Source: Coindesk
