Ethereum's Buterin suggests new framework for celebrity meme coins

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote about the recent craze surrounding celebrity meme coins.
• Buterin's comment follows a tweet identifying Iggy Azalea's MOTHER token breaking into sustainable value.
• Celebrity meme coins have seen harsh criticism due to several pump-and-dump incidents in last few weeks.

Following the recent craze surrounding celebrity meme coins, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted approaches he believed would be safer when launching these tokens. This follows a post suggesting rapper Iggy Azalea's MOTHER token may be showing potential amid criticism surrounding other celebrity meme tokens.

Buterin’s new approach to celebrity meme coins

In an X post on Wednesday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a new framework for creating and launching celebrity meme coins.

Buterin's comment follows a post by Chris Burniske, partner at Place Holder, which highlights Iggy Azalea's MOTHER token may have potential. Buterin expressed his displeasure toward the recent celebrity experimentation with meme coins and the troubles that have come with them.

Also read: Celebrity meme coins gain attention as Iggy Azalea and Davido join the train with respective token launches

"They are heating up again, but in a way that is making many people feel uneasy, because there isn't anything particularly new and interesting about the memecoins. In fact, often quite the opposite: apparently a bunch of Solana memecoins have recently been openly super-racist," said Buterin in a blog post.

Celebrity meme coins have been subject to a lot of criticism due to several pump-and-dump schemes that have played out in the last few weeks. Tokens such as Caitlyn Jenner's JENNER and artist Davido's DAVIDO faced fierce criticism for the massive sell-off that followed them, potentially caused by these celebrities dumping on their followers.

Buterin further referred to Ashton and Mila's Stoner Cats as "more honorable than anything we've seen from this 2024 celebrity meme coin era — at least there was an actual show being funded."

Read more: Alleged Caitlyn JENNER token sparks debate following claims of account hack

He proposed a new approach to these token launches with three major points of focus:

• It serves some public-good goal rather than enriching the celebrity's pocket.
• Having some fun mechanics that go beyond just trading a token.
• Creating something that lasts 10+ years, rather than bubbling around for a few months and then being forgotten.

The celebrity-themed coins category is down by 34% in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.

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