As cryptocurrencies proceed to draw lots of at this time’s largest rappers, the dialog has now shifted from NFTs to memecoins. As big-name rappers begin leaping on the brand new cryptocurrency wave, it’s unclear whether or not these cash maintain any actual worth.
So what precisely are meme cash? Memecoins are sometimes used to discuss with cryptocurrencies involving characters, people, animals, art work, or some other replicable foreign money, and are enthusiastically traded amongst merchants as a part of a enjoyable and enjoyable expertise. Nonetheless, they’re usually thought-about to have little worth and are thought-about a high-risk funding by cryptocurrency merchants if one desires to generate profits from them.
Probably the most well-known instance of a meme coin gone flawed is the notorious Dogecoin, which resulted in a $258 million lawsuit towards Musk for alleged racketeering and pyramid schemes.
That didn’t cease an growing variety of celebrities from flocking to meme cash earlier this yr, together with a variety of well-known rappers. The preliminary novelty of meme cash has actually worn off in latest months, particularly as scams and social media hacks have elevated. In June, 50 Cent’s social media accounts have been hacked, with claims that the G-Unit chief created a meme coin. In response to Fif, the scammer made off with $3 million in simply half an hour earlier than the rapper’s workforce gained entry to the account.
Regardless of widespread fraud surrounding meme cash, rappers have continued to leap on the craze in latest weeks, with blended outcomes. Waka Flocka Flame is at present in bother after launching the FLOCKA meme token on June 17. He needed to take care of accusations of insider buying and selling. In a follow-up interview with Decrypt, Waqa mentioned he merely misplaced management of the state of affairs.
“I will be trustworthy,” he mentioned, “fuck it. What occurred is we misplaced the cash first. Individuals sniped 60% of the cash, like 70%. So I used to be like, hold on. No, no, no , shut that coin, as a result of I do not even have it. That is my narrative.
The token gained 8% within the week of July 1 and is at present down 53% from its peak of $2 million in mid-June. It’s at present value roughly $174,000 and continues to be quickly depreciating. sexyy Purple confronted an identical state of affairs after saying the launch of the PRESI token on July 1. Throughout the first 75 minutes of its launch, the worth of Meme cash surged from 0.000045 SOL (SOL) (roughly $0.0067) to 0.01 SOL ($1.48) per coin. The coin’s worth nearly instantly plummeted by greater than 50%, to 0.0042 SOL ($0.62) per coin. Lil Pump additionally faces accusations of conducting a pump-and-dump scheme utilizing his lilpump meme token, which started buying and selling on June 13.
Rappers are additionally prepared to put money into these cash, even whether it is unclear whether or not the rapper is related to the cash. A meme coin referred to as Eminem’s Spaghetti (EMINSPAG) exploded in value when it was introduced in June, though Em by no means claimed that the coin was endorsed or created by him. The coin’s value soared 14,000%, reaching a peak worth of over $6,000.
Whereas meme cash are undoubtedly fraught with issues, some rappers are already benefiting from the brand new crypto wave. After Australian rapper Iggy Azalea introduced the launch of the MOTHER meme coin in June, its worth soared. She cashed out after reportedly making $194 million in only one week.
Scams apart, the meme coin enterprise itself has confirmed unprofitable. Lil Reese introduced a MONEY meme coin earlier this month that peaked at Reportedly worth just $35.
This meme craze will doubtless fade away just like the NFT pattern that got here earlier than it. The query with this pattern is, how many individuals will likely be scammed earlier than it ends?
