‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli’s Crypto Token Plunges After Massive Sale

Martin Shkreli Inu, a token worth fractions of a penny that was launched by the notorious “Pharma Bro” last month, plunged more than 90% at one point Friday, Binance data shows. The drop came after an unidentified wallet that appears to belong to Shkreli sold a massive stake in the coin. 

Asked about the plunge on the social media site Discord, an account believed to be run by Shrkeli responded: “I got hacked.” A representative for Shkreli declined to comment.

A series of blockchain transactions show a crypto wallet account named 0xshkreli.eth transfer more than 160 billion tokens to an unidentified wallet early Friday, according to Etherscan, which tracks blockchain transactions. After paring losses, the token was down more than 60% as of 3:30 p.m. Friday in New York.

Transactions on cryptocurrency blockchains are recorded on a public ledger. Still, confirming the identity of individuals who are conducting these transactions is difficult in the anonymous world of crypto. 

Martin Shkreli Inu is tied to Druglike, a Web3 project Shrkeli launched in July. He described it as a software platform that provides resources for those interested in “early stage drug discovery projects.”

Shkreli, once dubbed “the most hated man in America” for raising the price of a potentially life-saving drug, was released from prison earlier this year after serving time for securities fraud.

(Updates with decline to comment in third paragraph.)

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