Ronaldinho Gaúcho’s Instagram endorsement of Solana's Water Coin led to a 40% surge, following a similar post by Lionel Messi.

Ronaldinho's Instagram Endorsement

According to Cointelegraph, following yesterday's comparable post from Lionel Messi's IG account, Ronaldinho Gaúcho is the most recent soccer icon to endorse the Solana token Water Coin (WATER) on Instagram.

A snapshot of him with the mascot of Water Coin peeking over his shoulder was shared to his 76.6 million Instagram followers in a story on July 9. The photo was tagged with the token's Instagram account.

One hour following Ronaldinho's post, WATER surged 38.8% to $0.0012, but according to CoinGecko data, it has subsequently fallen below $0.00083. Since reaching an all-time high on June 26, its price has fallen by 71%.

Messi's Influence on WATER Price

Messi's Instagram post dated June 8, which posted an image similar to Ronaldinho's post, caused WATER's price to rise by 158%.

The website claims that Water Coin's primary goal is to bring attention to water-related concerns and to fund sustainable projects that aid in water distribution in Africa and work to reduce deforestation.

In its roadmap, Water Coin lays out its intentions to become a charity-focused environmental coin after forming collaborations with celebrities.

Water Coin's Vision Suspected

Despite claims that the WATER Foundation kept just 5% of the total 88.88 billion tokens, detractors in the industry, like YouTuber Ajay Kashyap, saw WATER as a possible pump-and-dump token.

"Is this real or another pump and dump sh*t" crypto analyst Ponga chimed in. "Stay cautious boys".

In August, a Brazilian parliamentary committee probed allegations that Ronaldinho was involved in a $61 million cryptocurrency pyramid scam. The "18kRonaldinho" scheme promoted itself using photographs of the retired soccer star and offered investors daily returns of 2%.

Ronaldinho denied any involvement in the plan, stating that he had never cooperated with the enterprise. He also contended that he was a victim of the scheme because it utilized his likeness without his permission.

Photo: WaterCoin/X