Celebrity memecoins have been the talk of the town for the past two weeks. A trend that resurged at the end of May quickly became one of the biggest narratives around the crypto community.
The industry has seen controversies, rug pulls, and Vitalik Buterin’s thoughts on the celebrity token frenzy. In the phenomenon’s most recent development, WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan beefed with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.
Celebrity Memecoins A Week Later
Despite the trend starting around May 20 with influencer tokens, celebrity tokens didn’t gain mainstream traction until reality TV star and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner launched her JENNER memecoin. Alongside Jenner, rapper Rich the Kid joined the crypto community with RICH.
However, both tokens were surrounded by controversy after it was revealed that alleged serial scammer Sahil Arora was involved in the launch. Several other artists and personalities joined the crypto space to launch their memecoins, including Lil Pump, Davido, Trippie Red, and MoneyBagg Yo. Some of these launches appear to be linked to Arora’s scams.
A week later, most celebrity memecoins saw a significant price decline or ended up as a rug pull scam. JENNER, which kickstarted the celebrity mania, is currently 81% down from its all-time high (ATH) registered on May 27.
The Olympian’s token, described as “the goddess of Solana,” went from trading around $0.04273 to $0.009072. This significant decrease has also cut its market capitalization from its $30 million peak to $7.5 million.
Hulk Hogan Wrestles MOTHER And Dumps His Fans
On Thursday, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan took X to announce the launch of his Hulkmania (HULK) token. The memecoin skyrocketed 500% within two hours and quickly reached a market cap of $17 million.
The launch turned sour when investors found Hogan had sold his HULK bag and deleted his posts mentioning the token. In minutes, the token’s market cap plummeted to $2 million.
HULK plummets after Hogan deletes posts. Source:
During the hours that Hogan’s X account promoted the token, the retired wrestler seemingly targeted Azalea and MOTHER. In an X post, Hogan replied to Azalea, saying, “You suck at pumping. $HULK has the real milk.”
Additionally, he shared two now-deleted Instagram posts beefing with the Australian rapper. In one of them, Hogan Azalea’s profile picture and captioned it, “Sahil does it best.”
Before deleting all his , Hogan shared an Instagram story claiming that he had been hacked. According to the post, none of the publications came from him and soon would be removed. Later, his X account was wiped completely, and Instagram comments were limited.
The crypto community grew concerned as the mention of Arora’s name suggested his involvement in the scam. However, it remains unclear whether Hogan’s website, Instagram, and X account were all hacked or if the retired wrestler’s team was involved.
Vitalik Buterin Vs Koala Vitalik?
Earlier this week, Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, criticized the ongoing celebrity token phenomenon. On X, Buterin stated he is “quite unhappy” with the crypto space’s celebrity experimentation.
Buterin his concern regarding the launch of tokens with no purpose other than being a get-rich-quick scheme. Additionally, he suggested some features that celebrity memecoins should have for him “to be more willing to respect it.” The list included a “public-good goal that it’s serving.”
To his criticism, Azalea responded by claiming that Buterin “was just hangry.” Moreover, she seemingly a Koala after Ethereum’s founder. The rapper uploaded a video announcing the donations saved another Koala. Its name? Koala Vitalik.
Azalea launched a “MOTHER fund” to help save Koalas infected with chlamydia. For the past week, the rapper has received donations in memecoins and several cryptocurrencies for the Koala cause.
Additionally, Azalea is giving her token utility. The rapper a Mother merchandise store that accepts MOTHER as payment. Ultimately, the token continued to soar after reaching new ATHs and recently breaking above the $200 million market cap.
MOTHER is trading at $0.2055 in the weekly chart. Source: MOTHERUSDT on
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Rubmar is a writer and translator who has been a crypto enthusiast for the past four years. Her goal as a writer is to create informative, complete, and easily understandable pieces accessible to those entering the crypto space. After learning about cryptocurrencies in 2019, Rubmar became curious about the world of possibilities the industry offered, quickly learning that financial freedom was at the palm of her hand with the developing technology.
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From a young age, Rubmar was curious about how languages work, finding special interest in wordplay and the peculiarities of dialects. Her curiosity grew as she became an avid reader in her teenage years. She explored freedom and new words through her favorite books, which shaped her view of the world. Rubmar acquired the necessary skills for in-depth research and analytical thinking at university, where she studied Literature and Linguistics. Her studies have given her a sharp perspective on several topics and allowed her to turn every stone in her investigations.
In 2019, she first dipped her toes in the crypto industry when a friend introduced her to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she started to dive into the depth of the industry. As Rubmar began to understand the mechanics of the crypto sphere, she saw a new world yet to be explored.
At the beginning of her crypto voyage, she discovered a new system that allowed her to have control over her finances. As a young adult of the 21st century, Rubmar has faced the challenges of the traditional banking system and the restrictions of fiat money.
After the failure of her home country’s economy, the limitations of traditional finances became clear. The bureaucratic, outdated structure made her feel hopeless and powerless amid an aggressive and distorted system created by hyperinflation. However, learning about decentralization and self-custody opened a realm of opportunities. Cryptocurrencies allowed her to experience financial control for the first time and expand her financial education.
Moreover, the peculiar nature of the crypto community sparked Rubmar’s curiosity about the other layers of the industry. As a result, she found a particular interest in discovering the diverse perspectives of investors, market watchers, experts, and developers. Her attempts to better understand the crypto space made her realize the strong links of the community with other industries, enriching her perspective of the sector. As someone who spends most of her day online, Rubmar enjoys finding the points where the crypto world meets with her other passions and hobbies –or her favorite memes.
In her free time, she usually finds joy in different art forms. As a child, she enlisted in every extra-curricular activity in her hometown, including music classes, dancing, jewelry making, and the local chorus. Despite her many attempts to learn different instruments, Rubmar only knows how to play the xylophone, which she played for 7 years in her school’s marching band.
She also has a passion for learning new languages and cultures, having set the goal to learn another six languages – currently attempting to learn Italian and Korean. Scrapbooking, paper crafting, and bookbinding are her biggest interests outside of work, constantly taking classes and attending workshops to learn new techniques. The rest of her free time is spent stressing over football matches and transfer market news or feeding cats –hers or stray.
In summary, Rubmar seeks to present entertaining and educational pieces to be enjoyed by everybody, aiming to report on the latest news and offer a unique perspective while adding a meme or a pun whenever possible.
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