With hopes for a better life, he is surviving through difficulties, battling an uninvited guest and disease — Cancer. The internet streamer had been in the digital space even before he was diagnosed with this malicious illness. But he became more sensational when he launched the Help Me Beat Cancer (CANCER) token as a financial aid to cover his medical expenses.
And, now his life is entangled with another layer of a gloomy story; a hacker stole $32,000 from his wallet — the money he raised for cancer treatment.
Yes, this story is about Raivo Plavnieks, a Latvian live streamer popular under the alias Rastaland.TV.
A sad crypto story begins here
Out of helplessness and financial urgency, Raivo Plavnieks launched the Help Me Beat Cancer /CANCER token. The token was launched on September 19, 2025, on Solana’s Pump.fun platform. Since then, the crypto community has hyped this token, showing their intense support for the content creator.
When token creators trade each CANCER token on the Pump.fun, creator fees are generated, and directed to his wallet to cover medical expenses.
The live stream where his crypto funds were stolen
A couple of days ago, just two days after the CANCER token launch, the optimistic streamer was actively interacting with his audience in a gaming-style livestream. One of the viewers suggested downloading a verified Steam game, BlockBlasters. Little did Raivo Plavnieks know the game link contained malware. He downloaded the link, clicked it, and whoosh!!! The malware stole his private keys, drained his wallet holding $32,000 in Solana! The theft happened live in front of his viewers.
Screams of loss echo through livestream
The moment Raivo Plavnieks realized his wallet had been theft, he screamed so loud. Later, he posted the live stream on X saying: “I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I’m completely lost on what is going to happen next, can’t shake the feeling that it is my fault that I might end up on the street again or not have anything to eat in a few days”…
The malicious attack was a group effort
The investigation team alleged that a man named Valentin Lopez, who lives in Miami, was involved in the crime. Several reports indicate that this crime was not a single-man show but involved a group. The alleged hacker has reportedly initiated several such games to steal players’ assets.
Crypto community extends a hand of help
The story does not end here. The reality has come out like a scene from a movie. The crypto community rallied around Raivo, stepped in quickly to help him recover the stolen amount. People bought more CANCER tokens and generated creator rewards for him through trading. Alon Cohen, the Co-Founder of Pum.fun redirected CANCER’s creator rewards to a new wallet.
Raivo got the stolen money, though not from the hacker returning them, but from the kind-hearted community.
Solidarity drives CANCER’s tokenomics high
When the crypto community poured in their support, the token gained more popularity as people bought it to show their solidarity. All these positive activities surged CANCER’s trading activity.
No sympathy in cybercrime
You might have gone through countless thoughts about why hackers set their anchor on a person battling with cancer. But the fact is, bad actors lack sympathy or empathy for anyone, and that’s how they jump from one crime to another to illegally earn millions and trillions. The crypto industry has been facing innumerable hacks and scams, through which innocent investors and traders have lost vast amounts of money. The story of Raivo Plavnieks has sparked a movement; in the very same digital world where he was robbed, compassion flooded in.
