Vitalik Buterin criticizes celebrity memecoins trend

In a tone of dissatisfaction, the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), Vitalik Buterin, commented on the wave of celebrity meme cryptocurrency launches. In statements shared on June 5, Buterin criticized the recent celebrity memecoin trend.

For Buterin, the intent of a project should be that, although they may later become useless, the average participant can still derive some satisfaction and happiness from being involved. He highlighted in a recent publication that financialization is only justified if it serves a purpose.

“I’m feeling pretty dissatisfied with this cycle’s “celebrity experimentation” so far. “Financialization as a means to an end”, I can respect if the end is worth it (healthcare, open source software, art, etc). Financialization as an end product,” he said. “Ashton and Mila’s Stoner Cats was far more honorable than anything we’ve seen in this celebrity memecoin era of 2024 – at least there was a real show being funded. How can we move things in a better direction?”

I’m feeling quite unhappy about with “this cycle’s celebrity experimentation” so far.

“Financialization as a means toward an end”, I can respect if the end is worthy (healthcare, open source software, art, etc). Financialization *as the final product*, 🤮

Ashton and Mila’s…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 5, 2024

Buterin’s comments came after a publication regarding the possibility of Iggy Azalea’s Mother Iggy (MOTHER) token ending up becoming a celebrity experiment this cycle.

Still on the occasion, the co-founder of Ethereum listed three important features that a celebrity cryptocurrency project needs to have so that it can “respect” it.

1. Have some sort of public good goal that is serving as well as enriching the celebrity and early adopters. Realistically, an art project or the celebrity’s favorite charity, or both.

2. Have some kind of fun mechanic that goes beyond just trading a token. As much as I don’t like token voting DAOs, at least they give people something to do and organize. The DAO should not completely decide the agenda, but it can have some influence.

3. Make something that lasts more than 10 years, rather than bubbling away for a few months and then being forgotten. The north star should be: have a project where, even if eventually all the tokens involved go to zero, the average person who participated will be happy they did. Regular companies and charities achieve this goal all the time! It’s a low standard, but the things we build must also meet that standard.

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or anyone mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment or other advice. Investing or trading cryptocurrencies carries a risk of financial loss.