A crypto-gambler appeared to shoot himself on a livestream on X after allegedly losing $500 on a memecoin investment.
Arnold Haro, 23, apparently livestreamed himself on the site playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with what appeared to be a loaded revolver.
Video since deleted from his account showed the father-of-one telling followers, ‘If I die, I hope you guys turn this into a memecoin’ before pulling the trigger three times.
On the third attempt, the gun appears to fire. Haro appears to fall before the camera cuts to black.
Within minutes, so-called ‘memecoin’ cryptocurrencies in his name appeared on the market. Critics slated the traders for opportunistically profiting from the incident.
A fundraiser set up by ‘Maria Lucero Haro’ said the 23-year-old had ‘lost his battle with depression‘.
‘He leaves behind his one-year-old daughter, his beloved significant other, his mother and father, and his three sisters, who will forever cherish his memory.’
Photos of Arnold Haro, 23, were shared on a Gofundme site to raise money for funeral expenses
The family of Mr Haro (pictured) described him as a ‘bright, kind and hilarious soul who brought light to those around him’
The crowdfunder has reached more than half of its $50,000 dollar target to help cover funeral expenses and ‘ensure that his memory is celebrated in the way he would have wanted’.
Haro had reportedly lost $500 in a Solana memecoin investment before the livestream, according to cryptocurrency news website Bitcoin Protocol.
The fundraiser for his funeral expenses described Haro as ‘a bright, kind, and hilarious soul who brought light to those around him’.
‘He had a gift for making people laugh, spreading joy, and offering unwavering support, even when he was struggling himself,’ it continued.
‘Though he carried burdens unseen, he always put others before himself, touching countless lives with his generosity and warmth.’
One user, sharing the crowdfunder, wrote on X: ‘RIP Arnold, he was there when i was at my lowest.
‘If you can help out please do, he was the best, just a lost soul towards the end, i wish he reached out more when he was feeling down.
‘He helped me at my lowest and i’d do anything for him.’
Other X users criticized the ‘memecoin community’ for trading on the tragedy.
The same evening as the livestream, user destroynectar posted ‘the meme coin community is pure evil’, sharing how others were apparently exploiting the loss.
User beaniemaxie shared the fundraiser and wrote: ‘If you’re one of the scumbags that made money off this guy’s suicide, you can at least consider giving some back. He’s a real person.’
MailOnline was unable to reach X for comment. MailOnline contacted Musk representative Alex Spiro for comment.
The site added a ‘report moment of death’ feature to its violent content policy earlier this month, allowing users to flag content that shows ‘a reasonably identifiable person…clearly deceased or depicts the death of an identifiable individual’.
To remove graphic content, a grieving family member is expected to present their government-issued ID and the ID of the deceased; a death certificate of the deceased; and a selfie.
X also allows users to report ‘possible threats of suicide, or any other form of self harm you notice on X’.
Haro had reportedly lost $500 in a Solana memecoin investment before the livestream
The link to X’s policy on self-harm no longer works
A link to X’s policy regarding self-harm no longer works, giving the notice ‘Looks like this page doesn’t exist. Here’s a picture of a poodle sitting in a chair for your trouble’, as of February 25.
Twitter insiders said after Musk bought the platform and laid off staff that due to cuts and changes to features, they could no longer protect users’ safety.
The former head of content design at the site told BBC Panorama in 2023 that her team, behind safety measures like nudge buttons, had been sacked.
An engineer told the program that ‘nobody’s taking care’ of this type of work now.
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