Celebrity Memecoins: Iggy Azalea And Hulk Hogan Beef Before $17 Million Rug Pull
June 07 2024 - 5:00PM
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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. Related
Reading: GMX Soars 20% Amid Crypto Whale Frenzy, Is It Back In
‘Turbo Mode’? 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. Related Reading: Get Ready
For Altcoin Explosion: Anlayst Reveals Key Months For Massive Gains
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.
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
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