According to CoinDesk, holders of Iggy Azalea's MOTHER token may soon be able to use the cryptocurrency to purchase phones and monthly cell plans from the singer's telecommunications company. This development follows the launch of a MOTHER merchandise store and is part of a broader effort to increase the cryptocurrency's utility amid a volatile, but overall positive, performance since its introduction last month.
The Australian rapper's planned telecommunications company will add utility to the MOTHER token, which was issued less than a month ago. The launch of a MOTHER merchandise store last week contributed to a rally in the token. According to DEXTools data, MOTHER has advanced 18% in the past 24 hours, outpacing gains in the meme coin sector, while the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a measure of the broader crypto market, has dropped 0.3%.
Azalea announced the relaunch of the telecommunications company she co-founded, stating that customers will be able to purchase phones or monthly cell plans using MOTHER or Sol. The payment infrastructure will be handled by Sphere Labs, which did not offer a native token as of Monday. Unreal Mobile, a service provider for the phones, will offer a selection of phones for purchase if needed.
Unreal’s plans range from $20 to $80 a month based on data usage and network spectrums. Phones sold by the Solana blockchain proved to be a success, partly because they came with an allocation of BONK tokens. All units of the flagship Saga model sold out in 2023 as sentiment around Solana-based meme tokens grew, eclipsing a dismal launch in 2022. The sales even prompted the announcement and early development of a second Saga phone, which crossed 100,000 in presale orders in February 2024.
The MOTHER token, issued as a celebrity meme coin on Solana in late May, saw volatile trading in its first few days as uncertainty around its actual issuer mounted among crypto circles. The issuance sparked debate among crypto believers, with some voicing concerns that it was a possible cash grab by a celebrity and others saying it showed what broader adoption of tokens could really look like. Despite the controversy, Azalea’s continual backing of promises of long-term growth seems to have paid off for early believers as the token’s market valuation grew from under $10 million to over $200 million.