Remember Hawk Tuah coin? Hopefully, you do not. But the cryptocurrency launched late last year by viral phenom Hailey Welch was a perfect example of how so-called meme coins often work: A person with a public platform announces a new token, and early buyers rush in and see the value of their “investment” soar as others buy in later. Eventually, someone who bought in cheap and early sells, making a stupid amount of money. The coin’s value collapses, and everyone else is left with a virtual nothing. This is called a rug pull. Welch ruined her public goodwill earned by making oral-sex jokes when she was roped into one of these schemes that erased some $465 million in speedily concocted value. Did some people lose money? Yes, but most of them had a risk tolerance so high that the average person could not contemplate feeling bad for them. The whole thing was at least some fun for those on the outside looking in.
The world of meme coins is a lot less fun just a few months later. When Donald Trump was reelected, crypto enthusiasts expected that a friendly White House would help boost the value of bitcoin and other tentpole cryptocurrencies. But even as this pro-crypto admin is already delivering on its promises to chill out on government regulation, bitcoin and other top coins are underperforming short-term expectations. (That’s in part owing to a massive crypto-exchange hack on Friday.) But over the past few weeks, the story in cryptocurrency has been just how shitty the shit coins are getting in the U.S. and beyond.
Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, has engaged in a libertarian crusade against the state that helped stocks soar while causing the country’s poverty rate to exceed 50 percent of residents. On Valentine’s Day, Milei posted on X about a meme coin called $LIBRA, promoting the project as a booster program for Argentine businesses. In reality, it looked more like a rug pull with the market cap of the coin rising to $4.6 billion before some key investors pulled out with north of $100 million in profit. Almost everyone else got burned. Milei has denied wrongdoing, but the opposition coalition is now moving forward with a long-shot impeachment measure.
The creator of the $LIBRA coin is an American named Hayden Davis, a 28-year-old who used to sell Supreme-branded Oreos and has deleted his online presence in the wake of the scandal. The day after the currency collapse, Davis posted a video in which he wore an $800 hoodie and claimed that he was not at fault. He then did an interview with the crypto YouTuber Coffeezilla explaining that the meme-coin world is an “unregulated casino” — and admitted to being part of the team behind the American First Lady’s $MELANIA coin launch earlier this year, which was also accused of being a rug pull. Davis, who could not be reached for comment, also said he was in possession of the $100 million.
Is this all stupid enough for you yet? If not, this story also involves Dave Portnoy, the don of Barstool Sports, who likes to dabble in crypto and daytrading when his favorite sports aren’t on. (Most of this took place in a window in February when there was no NBA or NFL on the TV to keep him occupied.) On February 17, Portnoy posted an interview with Hayden Davis after he was allegedly reimbursed for the millions he lost in the $LIBRA mess. Davis told Portnoy the $100 million in question was “definitely Argentina’s,” whatever that means.
He was taking notes. On February 18, Portnoy dropped a token called $GREED to highlight the “extreme greed” of the meme-coin world. Then he promptly sold off all his shares, making over $250,000 and causing the price to collapse. Then he immediately launched a second coin, $GREED2.
Amid rumors that Ye was going to launch his own meme coin, Portnoy posted on X calling him the “worst human alive” and saying that “normal people will get crushed.” The rapper formerly known as Kanye West then posted and deleted a video in which he wore a swastika T-shirt and said Portnoy was “playing with my money” by saying the Ye coin launch was fake.
@dailymail Kanye West responded to Dave Portnoy on X after the Barstool Sports chief labeled his meme coin a scam. On Saturday, Portnoy ranted about the rapper on X, naming West the 'worst human alive' while making his claims about the coins. Shortly after, West posted a now-deleted video to respond to Portnoy's claims. While wearing a swastika shirt, Earlier this month, Portnoy branded West 'one of the greatest pieces of s*** of all time' after the rapper went on a sickening social media rampage praising Hitler. Read more on DailyMail.com 🎥X/YE #kanyewest #ye #daveportnoy #barstoolsports #rapper #news #usa
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Hayden Davis’s description of this world as an “unregulated casino” is starting to sound pretty accurate. Unfortunately, it may also be understating the lawlessness of all this. On Friday, a user named @mistafuccyou reportedly livestreamed himself playing Russian roulette on X after losing $500 in a rug pull. “If I die, I hope you guys make this into a meme coin,” he reportedly said, before pulling the trigger. That night, a coin was launched. Soon after, his family launched a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses.
