Calls for improved projects amidst the rise of racist meme cryptocurrencies
Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has expressed his disapproval of meme coins associated with dictatorships in a recent blog post, advocating for higher-quality projects in the crypto space. Buterin highlighted that many of these meme coins lack originality and offer little value beyond speculative trading.
In his blog post, Buterin specifically criticized meme coins on the Ethereum network, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe (PEPE), which have gained significant popularity. He pointed out that there has been a surge of assets targeting social groups based on their nationalities, with some Solana memecoins being openly racist. Buterin also expressed concern about the prevalence of coins with names associated with totalitarian regimes.
Buterin suggested that the meme coin space has the potential for creating “positive-sum” alternatives, such as charity coins that allocate a portion of their token supply to charitable causes. However, he emphasized the importance of projects that not only provide financial rewards but also have a positive impact on the ecosystem and the world.
While acknowledging people’s desire to have fun, Buterin called for higher-quality projects in the crypto space that avoid enriching insiders and creators. Currently, the value of meme coins stands at $69.1 billion, surpassing sectors like gamefi and tokens focused on artificial intelligence. Meme coins represent 2.53% of the total crypto market, dominating non-fungible tokens and real-world assets in terms of market share.
It is clear that Buterin believes the crypto industry should prioritize projects that offer genuine value and contribute positively to the ecosystem and society as a whole.
