- Quant and Just a chill guy have enjoyed significant notoriety this week.
- Behind the impressive returns is a worrying pattern.
- The recent occurrences risk adding to the already long list of concerns, posing an obstacle to crypto mass adoption.
While all eyes are currently on price, and Bitcoin‘s rally to record highs has investors euphoric, a dark undercurrent may be brewing in the crypto space fueled by the degeneracy that has seen memecoins become the focus of the recent market cycle.
Previously ignored and treated with skepticism by industry leaders, memecoins have firmly taken center stage this year as crypto firms unable to resist the wave have shifted towards a more supportive approach with grants and tools like pump.fun. In recent times, however, there have been several signs that things may spiral out of control.
Degens Going Too Far?
Almost every week, a new memecoin appears to capture traders’ imaginations. This week has been a double-whammy, with Quant and Just a Chill Guy being the latest viral sensations. Within days, these assets accumulated nearly $700 million in combined value at their peak before dropping to about $360 million at the time of writing, netting mouth-watering gains for early investors.
Behind the impressive numbers, however, is a worrying pattern of personal attacks and harassment against the source of these memes.
When the creator of Quant, a middle school child, dumped all his holdings on investors on livestream for a $30,000 profit, crypto degens were quick to rally around the token to drive its value so that the tokens dumped by the child were now worth millions. But this was not revenge enough for the community.
In addition to driving up the price of the asset, some dug up the identities of the boy and his family, triggering a wave of online harassment.
In the case of Just a chill guy, the artist behind the viral meme and their partner have faced harassment after they disclosed that they were against the use of the artwork for crypto. Amid the continued attacks, the artist has threatened legal action against those using the art for profit.
“I’m just putting it out there, chill guy. It has been copyrighted, like, legally. I’ll be issuing takedowns on for-profit-related things over the next few days,” they wrote.
These recent attacks highlight the dark side of the greed that has taken hold of the industry.
Crypto Adoption at Risk
For all its promise of revolutionizing finance, ownership, and privacy, from the outside looking in, most people are likely to see lots of price speculation and scams. The recent attacks against a child and an artist who wants to have a say in how his art is used are unlikely to help the narrative and the industry’s quest for mass adoption.
The bad optics have not been lost on some in the industry.
“‘why do they hate crypto so much’ ‘let’s harass him in his personal life’” prominent crypto community member “CRONK” wrote in response to the harassment being faced by the Just a chill guy creator, highlighting the antithetical actions of crypto community members.
Similarly, Polygon Labs co-founder Sandeep Nailwal argued that the Quant debacle “painted a terrible picture” of the industry.
“I feel like things like this might invite regulatory intervention on the memecoin mania. That will lead to tectonic shift in the current industry narrative. This paints a terrible picture for crypto amongst the masses.”
On the Flipside
- Proponents continue to argue that memecoins are a powerful tool for community engagement and onboarding new users.
- There is no indication that the memecoin fever is ending anytime soon, as it continues to be driven by the ever-elusive yet eternally alluring promise of getting rich quickly.
Why This Matters
The recent attacks against the Quant and Just a chill guy creators highlight the volatile nature of the recent memecoin mania beyond the price charts. This is also particularly ironic for an industry that often claims to be under attack and bullied by regulators.
Read this for more on the recent memecoin mania:
How High Can the Memecoin Market Go? ArkStream Capital Forecasts
Learn more about Gary Wang’s sentencing:
Another FTX Fraudster Walks as Judge, Prosecutors Gush Over Cooperation
