Are meme coins killing crypto?

If I die, I hope you guys turn this into a meme coin.” Shortly after speaking these words, 23-year-old crypto trader Arnold Robert Haro, who had reportedly lost $500 on a crypto scam, started a game of Russian roulette, which was livestreamed on X (Twitter) on 21 February. After repeating his wish to be turned into a meme coin, he took his own life.

Within hours of Haro’s death, known online as @MistaFuccYou, several meme coins based on his MistaFuccYou alias launched on a cryptocurrency platform.

“The meme coin community is pure evil,” wrote X user @destroynectar, who shared an image of one of the new cryptocurrencies being traded while Haro’s live stream was still active on X.

These tokens form part of a massive influx of new cryptocurrencies to the market, which analysts are referring to as a “meme coin frenzy”. Often based on internet jokes, the digital coins hold no inherent value as a currency but can shoot up in price through speculation alone. They can mint millionaires in minutes, but almost always crash to zero, leaving latecomers with heavy losses.

There are now tens of thousands of coins being created every day. “Meme coins are mostly hot air and are notorious for their extreme price fluctuations,” Seamus Rocca, chief executive of Xapo Bank, says. “These sudden surges and subsequent crashes in meme coin values often trigger a ripple effect of damage across the wider cryptocurrency industry as public trust and perception deteriorate.”

It took four years for the first ever meme coin to emerge after the creation of the world’s first cryptocurrency, bitcoin. Launched by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer in 2013, dogecoin started as a joke that poked fun at the speculation and hysteria surrounding the crypto space at the time. But the token provided real utility, with the speed of transactions and low fees meaning that some even claimed it could one day be the currency of the internet. (The founders notoriously made no money from the venture, with one of them revealing that he sold his entire stake years ago for a giant jar of Nutella).

Dogecoin has since established itself as one of the world’s top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of around $30bn at the time of writing. In the years following its release, other meme coins trickled into the market, but it took skilled developers who knew the complexities of forking blockchains or building new protocols to produce them.

All this has changed with the arrival of platforms that help to create coins, with millions of new tokens now being released every month. With such a massive volume, the vast majority fail to make any impact on the market.

The Russian roulette incident is the latest in a string of increasingly elaborate and dangerous stunts that developers are resorting to in order to gain attention and pump the value of their tokens. Last year, a user suffered third-degree burns after setting himself on fire as part of a dare to promote his TruthOrDare cryptocurrency. Another sexualised his own mother on a live stream in order to pump his LIVEMOM token to a $835,000 (£645,000) market cap.

The trend has drawn in celebrities, influencers and even presidents. Donald Trump, who has promised to make the US the “crypto capital of the world”, launched his own meme coin, along with his wife Melania and son Barron, just days before his inauguration.

The $TRUMP, $MELANIA and $BARRON coins generated enormous profits for some – estimates suggest the projects netted them more than $350m – but when the price collapsed, more than 800,000 investors suffered a cumulative $2bn in losses. It has been argued that Trump’s involvement, along with that of other world leaders like Argentina’s Javier Milei, has complicated regulation in the space and helped legitimise the phenomenon.

Eddy Lazzarin, who serves as the chief technology officer at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division, warned that the trend was fundamentally changing how the public, regulators and entrepreneurs view crypto. “At best, it looks like a risky casino. Or a series of false promises masking a casino,” he says. “This deeply affects adoption, regulation/laws, and builder behaviour. I see the damage every day.”

The vast majority of meme coins exemplify the worst traits of cryptocurrency. They are volatile, confusing, and a haven for gamblers and scammers who prey on the naive and vulnerable. There is hope from some that Haro’s death could bring about the end of the meme coin frenzy.

“These events have heightened skepticism toward meme coins,” says Maria Carola, chief executive of StealthEX. “The golden age of meme coins may be coming to an end as investors grow increasingly cautious, recognising the dangers of investing in highly volatile assets.”

One sign that it could be coming to an end is the recent emergence of meme coins that give way to “rug pulls” – referring to a scenario where crypto creators abandon a token and cash out, leaving investors with worthless tokens. These predatory instances suggest that the industry is becoming an ouroboros – a snake eating its own tail.

The creator of one of the meme coins that spawned in the wake of Haro’s death included one of the most pertinent messages, despite the opportunistic nature of the coin.

“Crypto is becoming a casino, and people are paying the ultimate price,” wrote the creator of a MistaFuccYou meme coin.

“Crypto should be about real utility and long-term value. Wake up. This has to change. Our deepest condolences to his family.”

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you