April 24, 2025

SpecterAnalyst

Credit: Arkham for their intelligence tools

<aside> 🔖 Solana traders have increasingly encountered challenges related to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) promoted on X (Twitter), often instructing participants to send SOL directly to random wallet addresses. With no smart contract or platform intermediary, trust becomes the only bridge—and many investors end up burned.

Even Solana's own ICO took place on CoinList, where participants trusted a platform. But what happens when a meme coin launches straight from a tweet?

Let’s look at three major cases that made waves during the X ICO hype 👇

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🚀 Understanding ICOs and the Rise of XICOs

An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a fundraising method used by crypto projects to raise capital. Investors send crypto (usually ETH or SOL) in exchange for a newly launched token. It’s similar to an initial public offering (IPO) in the stock market, in the stock market—but without regulation. ICOs were popular during the 2017 crypto boom and are still used today, often through more secure platforms like CoinList, Tokensoft, or direct smart contracts.

In a typical ICO:

• A project announces its idea and tokenomics
• Investors send crypto to a designated address or participate through a platform
• Tokens are distributed later, often with a roadmap and vesting schedule

What is an XICO?

An XICO (short for X (Twitter) ICO) is an emerging, high-risk version of an ICO happening directly on X (formerly Twitter). There's:

• No website
• No whitepaper
• No smart contract
• Just a tweet asking you to send SOL to a wallet

XICOs are unofficial, trust-based, and often driven by memes, hype, or influencer backing. While some turn out to be legitimate (or accidentally legendary), others end in disaster or full-on rugs.

The Reality of XICOs – A Case Study of Three High-Profile Launches on Solana

Over the past few months, Solana traders have poured millions of dollars into XICOs, often sending funds based on nothing more than a tweet, a promise, and a wallet address. According to on-chain investigator ZachXBT, over 26 XICO-style presales were launched on Solana in March 2024 alone. By April 2024, 12 of those projects had been completely abandoned, leaving investors with nothing but regret and memes.