Scam tokens related to "DeepSeek" have shot up in the last 24 hours. This highlights how quickly scammers can react to trending events.
According to data from BlockAid, at least 75 scam tokens appeared by January 27. That’s a threefold increase from the day before. This surge follows the launch of a memecoin by US President Donald Trump on January 18.
DeepSeek released its latest AI app version on January 20. It went viral and quickly climbed to the top of the Apple App Store. However, this success has also sparked a wave of scam tokens trying to take advantage of the buzz.
Oz Tamir, a research analyst at BlockAid, pointed out that scammers have created a decentralized application (DApp) that mimics the DeepSeek website. It features a "Connect Wallet" button. If clicked, it could drain a user’s crypto wallet. Tamir emphasized the sophistication of these scams and the importance of staying alert.
In a post on X dated January 10, DeepSeek stated, “DeepSeek has not issued any cryptocurrency. There is only one official account on Twitter. We will not reach out through other accounts. Please stay vigilant against potential scams.”
Despite these warnings, scammers have been busy. Some have even found success. Cointelegraph reported on January 27 that two fake DeepSeek tokens gained traction. One reached a market cap of $48 million before dropping quickly, while another hit $13 million.
Tamir noted that scammers are getting faster at exploiting trending topics. The launch of Official Trump (TRUMP) and the First Lady’s memecoin, MELANIA, led to a spike in copycat tokens. The number of Trump-branded tokens launched daily jumped from 3,300 to 6,800 on the day of the official memecoin debut.
DeepSeek has generated a lot of conversation on X. Its AI model has shown capabilities that could rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company claims it developed its model for under $6 million. That’s much less than the tens of billions that American firms are spending on their own models.
On January 23, President Trump signed an executive order that removed barriers to American AI innovation. David Sacks, the AI and crypto czar under Trump, commented on X that DeepSeek’s R1 shows the AI race will be very competitive.
This focus on AI has caused a sell-off in financial markets. The overall crypto market slid by 5.5% in the past 24 hours as of this writing.