7 June 2024
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.
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 HULK-related posts, 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 explained 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 named 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 launched 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.