I just remembered the ViruSs pump-and-dump incident involving ZUKI in 2021 — one of the most costly lessons for the Vietnamese crypto community. At that time, Đặng Tiến Hoàng (ViruSs) was a streamer with millions of followers, a familiar figure on various platforms. He started entering the cryptocurrency space in mid-2021 and quickly got involved with the Zuki Moba project — an NFT game with its own token called ZUKI.

The interesting part of this case is that ViruSs has ties to KV Ventures, an investment fund he co-founded. With his massive influence over his fan community, he kept sharing about ZUKI on TikTok, YouTube, and other channels, encouraging people to invest when the price was around $0.2–$0.3. Many new investors (F0) were drawn in, rushing to buy ZUKI just because they trusted his call.

But by the end of 2021, ZUKI’s price suddenly plummeted. According to CoinMarketCap, ZUKI dropped to about $0.0879, and the project’s market cap evaporated nearly $7 million. At this point, the community started to suspect: Did ViruSs pump the coin and then dump it for profit? The question grew louder when Trần Văn Phúc (Zet Under) — a well-known investor — publicly criticized ViruSs in his videos, commenting that “he’s been in the market less than 3 months and already pump-and-dumping?”

ViruSs didn’t stay silent but responded with three videos on YouTube, explaining that he didn’t “pump” anyone and even accusing Zet Under of financial fraud. However, the mounting public pressure led him to delete all those videos afterward. This move only fueled more suspicion.

Finally, on December 25, 2021, ViruSs officially announced his withdrawal from KV Ventures and ceased involvement in the Zuki Moba controversy. He reduced his crypto activities on social media and returned to focusing on his streaming career. Meanwhile, Zuki Moba and ZUKI continued to decline, leaving many retail investors with significant losses.

This ViruSs pump-and-dump incident sparked a heated debate about the responsibility of KOLs in Vietnam’s crypto market. Experts warn that setting specific prices without cautious advice can lead investors to FOMO and heavy losses. It’s an important reminder for the community: do thorough research instead of blindly trusting celebrities, no matter how many followers they have.