"Dogwifhat's Vegas Ad Deal: Fact or Fiction?"

The Dogwifhat meme coin, which gained popularity on the Solana blockchain, has been at the center of a recent controversy surrounding its alleged advertising deal with the Las Vegas Sphere. The venue has confirmed that no such agreement exists, raising concerns within the crypto community.

The Las Vegas Sphere, a prominent structure in the entertainment industry, has denied any deal with Dogwifhat (WIF) for advertising purposes. A spokesperson for the venue stated, "We have never had a deal with Dogwifhat, and our agency at the time only had one very preliminary conversation early last year. There was and is no plan for Dogwifhat to appear on the Exosphere, and we are distressed they are using our name for fraudulent purposes."

In March 2024, the Dogwifhat project raised nearly $700,000 from supporters to promote the meme coin on the Las Vegas Sphere. This funding helped the token reach its all-time high of $4.83. However, as months passed without any visible advertising action, backers grew frustrated and called for refunds amidst uncertainty.

Recently, the official Dogwifhat X account posted "Officially confirmed. Viva hat vegas," hinting at an upcoming advertisement on the Las Vegas Sphere. However, the post was later deleted, and the artwork depicting the coin's dog mascot holding a phone displaying "Q1 2025" was reposted without the "officially confirmed" line. This caused WIF to spike 34.7% over a four-hour period, according to CoinGecko, to a price of $1.34, before settling to $1.30.

Following the X post, $697,811 was sent from the WIF Sphere multi-sig wallet to a new, unnamed wallet. These funds still sit in the wallet. On-chain data shows that a small amount of USDC was sent to a Coinbase wallet from the unnamed wallet an hour before the large transaction. However, a Sphere spokesperson denied any formal deal being made with the meme coin's supporters.

The lack of a formal advertising agreement between Dogwifhat and the Las Vegas Sphere has raised questions within the crypto community. The incident serves as a reminder of the potential consequences of miscommunication in the cryptocurrency space