Binance Founder Calls Meme Coins ‘Weird’ as Pump.fun Controversy Sizzles

Meme coin mania seems to have swept the plenty, however no less than one business stalwart is chaffing beneath this yr’s hype.

Meme cash are “getting a bit of bizarre now,” former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao mentioned Tuesday on X, including the crypto group ought to pivot to constructing “actual purposes utilizing blockchain.” 

Bizarre, nevertheless, is an understatement.

The founder’s feedback kind a part of a broader on-line dialogue a couple of controversial development in latest weeks through which meme coin creators pump their low-cap altcoins by means of outlandish — and generally harmful — publicity stunts. 

Solana-based meme coin launchpad Pump.enjoyable on Monday disabled its common stay stream characteristic shortly after a token creator pretended to hang himself throughout a stay broadcast on the platform. 

The stunt reignited a long-running debate about Pump.enjoyable’s function as a breeding floor for dangerous content material linked to the promotion of meme cash.

“We acknowledge that latest occasions on our platform’s stay streams have induced concern,” Pump.enjoyable’ group said Monday, vowing to double down on content material moderation. “Our platform has skilled unprecedented progress just lately, with the each day variety of stay streams growing by over 100x in beneath per week.” 

That meme coin insanity has solely mushroomed in a bull market that has catapulted a number of altcoins’ costs to astronomical all-time highs. 

Tokens similar to Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) and Only a Chill Man (CHILLGUY) have soared greater than 1,500% and 2,800%, CoinGecko information reveals. 

Their dizzying trajectories have fueled some creators’ ambitions, using no matter means essential to cross the delta between low-cap altcoin and unlikely market-cycle winner. 

Earlier this yr, a Solana developer doused himself in isopropyl alcohol and took a barrage of fireworks throughout a Pump.enjoyable livestream, touchdown himself within the hospital with third-degree burns. In the meantime, staged kidnappings, fraudulent amputees, and X-rated live shows proceed to run rampant.

Pump.enjoyable didn’t instantly return Decrypt’s request for remark.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair