The celebrity crypto projects have failed to establish a virtuous cycle and instead have turned into a form of predatory mechanism. This article is sourced from a piece by Decrypt (SCENE’s 2024 Story of the Year: The Boom—and Bust—of Celebrity Meme Coins), compiled and edited by Bitpush. (Background: Not just meme coins, three reasons to be optimistic about PENGU's future development) Celebrity involvement in cryptocurrency is no longer a novelty. As early as 2013, former child star Brock Pierce co-founded Blockchain Capital, paving the way for celebrities to dive into the crypto space. From former U.S. President Donald Trump to star Lindsay Lohan, celebrities from all walks of life have rushed in, trying to cash in on the wave of cryptocurrency. However, the celebrity effect is not always a panacea. Some individuals leverage their influence to promote crypto projects, but the results are often disappointing. Over the past decade, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against more than ten cases of celebrity violations in promoting cryptocurrencies, with figures like Kim Kardashian and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather facing penalties as a result. Even more lamentable is the fact that many celebrities have also become deeply embroiled in the FTX exchange collapse scandal, which nearly destroyed the entire crypto industry. If the involvement of celebrities in cryptocurrency is considered a 'common topic', then the rise of 'celebrity meme coins' in 2024 can be seen as a 'new trend'. As meme coins replace NFTs as the new darlings of speculators, many celebrities have followed suit, launching their own meme coins and even attempting to build business models around these tokens. In just the past year, nearly a dozen major stars from Europe and America have launched their own meme coins, with community feedback being mixed, and more often than not negative. Traditional investors typically believe that Bitcoin investors have a higher risk tolerance, but the fanatics of meme coins are the true risk-takers—similar to being in the Wild West, where the price of the tokens in hand can soar or plummet in an instant. This madness is vividly displayed on the meme coin issuance platform Pump.fun. Olympic decathlon champion Caitlyn Jenner released her own meme coin on this platform, kicking off the celebrity meme coin craze. Many 'mind-blowing' stories have occurred on Pump.fun. There was a user who threatened that if his meme coin wasn't purchased, he would end the life of a small goldfish; another person vowed to remain on the toilet until his token's market cap reached $50 million (when the market cap reached $10 million, he actually shaved off one of his eyebrows). Some individuals have taken even more extreme actions, such as a young man who even 'self-fen' (a slang term). Amidst Pump.fun's popularity, in May 2024, Jenner teamed up with Trump, who was actively preparing for a campaign, to launch her own token in a high-profile manner. This move sparked significant controversy, with many even questioning whether Jenner's social account had been hacked or if it was an AI deepfake scam. Even the founder of Pump.fun was taken aback. Alon (a pseudonym), co-founder of Pump.fun, stated in an interview with Decrypt: 'I was almost dumbfounded.' He described it as one of the craziest moments in the company's brief yet brilliant history: 'We tweeted that she launched a coin, and then we were all stunned, 'Did she really launch a coin? I completely couldn't understand what was happening, it was too crazy.' It turned out that the driving force behind Jenner's 'farce' was crypto promoter Sahil Arora. He signed a contract with Jenner, promising to issue her tokens and agreed to pay a $50,000 advance as well as an 80% revenue share. However, this collaboration quickly devolved into a farce. Jenner accused Arora of breach of contract and publicly lashed out on Twitter: 'F...k Sahil Arora! He tricked us!' In a May interview with Decrypt, Jenner stated that Sahil Arora 'vanished into thin air' after showing her a few wire transfer records and still owed her 'a large sum of money'. Arora did not respond to Decrypt's request for comment at the time. But this was just the beginning. After collaborating with R&B singer Jason Derulo to issue tokens, Derulo also publicly accused Arora of deceiving him. Arora responded that it was all 'part of the script'. Subsequently, Arora went on to issue tokens for rap artists Rich the Kid and Lil Pump, and these celebrities also complained about similar experiences. Following that, stars like Cardi B, Waka Flocka Flame, and Sean Kingston also issued their own tokens, but did not publicly collaborate with Arora. Data visualization company Bubbleworks issued a lengthy post on social platform X, blasting Arora for making $30 million this year by acting as an agent for celebrities in issuing meme coins. Nick Vaiman, co-founder and CEO of Bubblemaps, stated in an interview with Decrypt: 'Many tokens had obvious danger signals from the very beginning, such as high control, malicious manipulation, and obvious 'rug pull' strategies.' Of course, not all celebrity meme coin launches end in farce. Australian musician Iggy Azalea is an exception. Although her token MOTHER faced skepticism from Bubblemaps due to a 20% supply 'sabotage' during its launch, she claimed to be completely unaware of it. Bubblemaps' on-chain detectives pointed out that such a situation could only occur if the token contract address was leaked to insiders in advance. However, after Iggy Azalea participated in a Twitter Spaces event, demonstrating her understanding of crypto and publicly criticizing Arora, public sentiment shifted. Alon, the founder of Pump.fun, stated: 'When we realized she really understood, we had high hopes for her. It felt amazing.' A few months later, more and more celebrities issued tokens, only to become trash coins. Jenner even issued an Ethereum token, which caused the price of her previously issued Solana token to plummet. So, what is the current status of these celebrity meme coins? As of the time of writing, Jenner's meme coin on Solana has a market cap of only $357,000, while her Ethereum token has a market cap of just $139,000, far below the previous peaks of $42 million and $7.5 million, respectively. Jason Derulo's JASON token has fallen 97.8% from its peak, with a market cap shrinking to $783,000; Waka Flocka Flame's FLOCKA token has dropped 99%, with a market cap of only $238,000; bundled tokens...