A cryptocurrency meme coin group has taken responsibility for a series of disruptions at WNBA games in recent weeks involving neon green sex toys being thrown onto the court during live action. A representative of the group told USA Today that the acts have been part of a coordinated publicity stunt tied to the launch of their coin and were not an attack on women’s sports.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a user known as @Daldo_Raine on social media claimed the stunts were meant to generate viral attention while pushing back against a centralized power structure within the crypto space. As a form of protest, the group launched the meme coin on July 28 and began infiltrating WNBA arenas soon thereafter with neon green sex toys designed to resemble a rising “green candle” on trading charts, according to text messages obtained by USA Today.
The first incident occurred July 29 in Atlanta, and there have been six documented disruptions in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and New York. The latest occurred Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena during a game between the Indiana Fever and Los Angeles Sparks when a sex toy was thrown near the court. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham narrowly avoided being hit and later voiced her frustration on social media.
“The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league,” the WNBA previously said in a statement. “Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans. In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”
Phoenix police arrested 18-year-old Kaden Lopez Wednesday after he allegedly struck a fan and a 9-year-old child with a sex toy at a Aug. 5 Mercury game. According to court documents, Lopez told officers he saw the trend online and regretted taking part in it. The group denied any affiliation with Lopez to USA Today and similarly claimed no association with a second man, Delbert Carver, who was arrested in Atlanta for throwing a sex toy on the court late last month. According to the spokesperson, group members have been advised not to throw anything unless they’re confident it wouldn’t harm anyone.
“We didn’t do this because like we dislike women’s sports … like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous,” the spokesman told USA Today. “Creating disruption at games … it happens in every single sport, right? We’ve seen it in the NFL, we’ve seen it in hockey, you know, … fans doing random things to more or less create attention.
“We knew that in order to get a voice in the space,” they continued. “We had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project, more or less.”
Other green sex toys have already appeared on the Charging Bull at Wall Street in New York City and behind home plate at an MLB game, and the group told USA Today that more pranks are coming outside of the WNBA with the intent of protesting centralized influence in the crypto space.
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