Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed his disapproval of the recent trend of celebrities trying their hand at cryptocurrency by creating memecoins, arguing that most current celebrity memecoins lack any meaningful social impact.
In a June 5 social media post, Buterin noted that most celebrity-backed memecoins lack real utility or specific use cases to support their creation.
Buterin argues that financialization is not an end in itself, but a means. It is only justified when it serves a purpose that brings value to society. He gives examples of purposes that might include improving healthcare, supporting open source software, and promoting the arts.
Buterin said that the core purpose of a project should be to give participants a sense of accomplishment or satisfaction, even if the project ultimately fails or the value of its tokens drops to zero.
He added: “The goal should be to create projects that even if all the tokens in the project eventually go to zero, the average person will feel happy and satisfied participating in them. Regular businesses and charities meet this standard all the time, and while it’s a basic requirement, the projects we build should at least meet this level.”
Proposed Approval Criteria
Buterin has set several criteria for celebrity-initiated cryptocurrency projects, and he believes that only projects that meet these criteria can gain his approval and respect.
First, these cryptocurrency projects should go beyond just making money for celebrities and early investors and bring substantial benefits to the public. For example, he said that the Stoner Cats NFT series launched by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis is more respectable than the meme coins launched by other celebrities this year because the project actually funded the production of a show.
Buterin also suggested that celebrity meme coins should include engaging mechanisms, such as decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) activities, which can promote participation from community members and help the value of the token go beyond just trading.
Finally, he stressed that these tokens should be designed with a long-term perspective and be able to last for more than a decade, rather than just being active on the trading market for a few months and then being forgotten.
Meme coin powered by celebrity effect
Celebrity memecoins have become a new trend in the cryptocurrency space in recent weeks, with celebrities including Caitlyn Jenner, Iggy Azalea, and Davido issuing various tokens through the Solana-based Pump Fun app.
These attempts have had mixed success, but blockchain data suggests that these assets have primarily benefited early market entrants who have accumulated sizable positions in these tokens. For example, blockchain analytics agency Lookonchain reported that an address associated with Nigerian record producer Davido earned more than $470,000 in just 11 hours.
Meanwhile, Iggy Azalea’s Mother Iggy token has also continued to attract attention, with the token soaring by about 500% in the last seven days according to CryptoSlate. #VitalikButerin #迷因币 #MemeCoins #社会价值
Conclusion:
Vitalik Buterin’s criticism of celebrity meme coins highlights an important discussion point in the cryptocurrency space: the social value and long-term sustainability of projects. The standards he proposed provide an opportunity for reflection and self-improvement not only for celebrity-related crypto projects, but also for the entire industry.
As the cryptocurrency market continues to develop, investors and project initiators should pay more attention to the actual utility of the project and its contribution to society, rather than just short-term financial gains.
Only in this way can cryptocurrencies truly realize their potential to change the world and bring positive impact to people.