Celebrity Memecoins Highlight Crypto’s Influencer Problem

In 2024, celebrity memecoins emerged as the most recent crypto trend, with a plethora of celebrity endorsements

The most recent influencer crypto trend is celebrity memecoins, which were recently launched by celebrities such as Katlyn Jenner and Iggy Azalea.

Nevertheless, several celebrity-linked projects have already been accused of retail dumping and defrauding unsuspecting amateur investors, consistent with each bull cycle. This underscores the crypto market’s persistent issue with influencers.

Celebrities capitalize on the most recent trend during each bull market.

Throughout the 2017 bull run, various tokens were promoted through celebrity-endorsed initial coin offerings (ICOs), such as those from socialite Paris Hilton, boxer Floyd Mayweather, and actor Jamie Fox.

One study suggested that over 80% of ICO projects in 2017 were frauds, while the majority of those ICO projects were duds. Nevertheless, the majority of the celebrities involved were able to escape with a fine for promoting fraudulent initiatives.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse were the hottest new trends during the 2021 to 2022 bull season. Numerous luminaries employed the new technology for self-promotion.

Former President Donald Trump was accused of promoting and launching NFTs with no real value, while Jake Paul, DJ Khaled, David Dobrik, and Floyd Mayweather promoted scam NFT ventures.

Memecoins, initially developed by anonymous internet influencers before their mainstream adoption, are the most recent trend in 2024.

Numerous celebrity meme tokens incorrectly spelled, including Doland Tremp (TREMP) and Jeo Boden (BODEN), made headlines and were even listed by centralized exchanges.

Celebrities, including Iggy Azalea, Caitlyn Jenner, rapper Lil Pump, and online influencers like Andrew Tate, joined the memecoin movement as the tokens reached their zenith popularity in late May.

Nevertheless, the market frequently reaches its peak when prominent or nearly-famous influencers and celebrities enter the crypto space with ambitious promises.

This has been demonstrated by the recent decline in memecoin volumes and the subsequent steep price decline.

Memecoin’s dominance in the altcoin market has experienced a significant decline since mid-May, as indicated by data provided by CryptoQuant. This decline has continued into June.

Tristan Frizza, co-founder of Zeta Markets, a decentralized exchange protocol based in Solana, stated to Cointelegraph that celebrities participate in token initiatives as a low-effort method of potentially earning a substantial payout.

“Retail users who intend to speculate on cryptocurrency should be aware that it is volatile, and memecoins, in particular, are extremely volatile, and the majority of them fail; in other words, they tend to zero,” Frizza added that the fact that any celebrity or personality endorses or speaks of a memecoin does not alter this fact.

Memecoins associated with celebrities experience an increase in value.
Caitlyn Jenner (JENNER), an American media personality, initiated the celebrity memecoin frenzy on May 28.

Despite a rocky start, the token achieved a market capitalization of $40 million within 24 hours of its debut, as many individuals initially believed it was a component of a deep fake X account hack.

Iggy Azalea, a rapper, introduced her Mother, Iggy (MOTHER) memecoin, on the Solana blockchain in response to the initial success of JENNER. Within a matter of weeks, the token’s value rocketed. Nevertheless, the price has experienced a substantial decline in the past week due to the ongoing market turmoil.

Davido, a Nigerian musician, tapped into the trend and introduced the Timeless Davido (DAVIDO) token. Nevertheless, some have questioned the project’s legitimacy, asserting it included a pre-mine and token release.

Rich the Kid, an American rapper, also garnered interest from memecoin merchants with his Rich (RCH) token. Nevertheless, the token has since plummeted to a market capitalization of $61,000, a loss of more than 90% of its value.

Memecoins associated with American rappers Moneybagg Yo (SPEAK) and Trippie Red (BANDO), as well as boxing legend Floyd Mayweather (FLOYD), have also experienced a decline of over 90% since their introduction.

A contentious relationship with social media
An Instagram influencer, Sahil Arora, is a common thread among celebrity memecoin launches.

Arora is accused of organizing and promoting the launching of celebrity meme tokens, the majority of which were subsequently retracted and disappeared. Jenner and Azalea claimed that Arora “scammed” them in social media posts.

Arora allegedly acted as an intermediary, launching tokens on behalf of celebrities, sometimes without their knowledge, before persuading them to use their social media platforms to promote the tokens by promising them wealth.

Subsequently, he would liquidate his substantial holdings, causing a token price decline.

Following the emergence of numerous allegations, X ultimately suspended his account.

Max Jones, the co-founder of MemePad, a memecoin launchpad based in Solana, stated to Cointelegraph that the prevalence of celebrity tokens is a result of their promotion, with their price being contingent upon the media appearances of the individual they represent.

It is impossible for a market that is so reliant on marketing to endure indefinitely:

“This hyped market will likely face a downtrend in activity; we already see a decline in 24-hour trading volume from over $100 million last week to $38 million. Many projects will be abandoned.”

Jones suggested that celebrity tokens should be launched on professional launchpads with a sustainable economic model rather than emerging as chaotic, poorly-made tokens. “It can potentially detract individuals from the token or cryptocurrency if millions of fans engage with a low-quality project or a scam.” “We would appreciate the presence of additional high-quality projects regularly updated with incentives and use cases,” he continued.

Upon reviewing the succession of celebrity memecoin launches over the past few months, only one or two have been able to maintain their value for more than one week.

Except for Azalea’s MOTHER, most of the tokens have experienced a loss of over 90% of their value since their inception.

This underscores the bitter reality reiterated during each bull cycle: influencer culture in cryptocurrency penalizes retail traders.

Celebrity memecoins are among the most detrimental crypto trends.
Before 2024, most celebrity-influenced projects promised some real-world value and innovation despite the numerous frauds and rug pulls that have occurred over the years in the crypto industry.

Conversely, memecoins are exceedingly speculative. New traders invest their hard-earned money to earn substantial returns on one of the hundreds of memecoins that have recently launched.

Nevertheless, the memecoin world became even more susceptible to scams due to celebrity influence, as fans invested their money in the token of their beloved celebrity without a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, also condemned celebrity memecoins, asserting that celebrities’ financialization of crypto trends is only permissible if it serves a purpose that adds value to society.

He cited the Stoner Cats initiative by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, asserting that it was significantly more respectable than any of the 2024 celebrity memecoin trends. He stated, “At least Stoner Cats funded a legitimate production, in contrast to the memecoins, devoid of substance and purpose.”

Edward Wilson, an analyst at Nansen, stated to Cointelegraph that memecoins could be an enjoyable method of embracing crypto. However, he emphasized that not all memecoins are created equal.

“Your ‘blue-chip’ memes, like DOGE and PEPE, serve as a way to tokenize culture, and that’s where the ‘value’ lies. But what we’re seeing in recent weeks with past their sell-by date celebrities are low-tier efforts to extract what little they can from their community to make a quick buck. This is something that has received significant pushback in the crypto community, and rightly so.”

Crypto influencers generated new memecoins by raising funds on X during the apex, but many of these tokens vanished with the seed fund. In one such instance, the creator of the Slerf memecoin inadvertently incinerated $10 million. Nevertheless, the memecoin was ultimately launched and amassed a market capitalization of $500 million.

The memecoin fervor has reached such a climax that certain individuals have begun creating memes of any subject. One instance is when Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, tweeted a photograph of his beloved pig. A memecoin with a market capitalization of one million dollars was discovered the following day.

Celebrity tokens, like any other cryptocurrency, possess both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, these coins enable followers to engage with their role models playfully, while artists and athletes enhance their communities and receive increased media coverage.

Conversely, the substantial price fluctuations and the prevalence of scams are hazardous and do little to endear crypto to the investing public.