Kanye West Signals Interest in Launching a Cryptocurrency Amid Anti-Semitic Tweetstorm

Rapper Kanye West is seemingly looking to get in touch with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong for something “concerning crypto,” according to a cryptic post he made on social media Friday.

Rapper Kanye West appeared to be expressing interest in getting in touch with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on Friday over something "concerning crypto," according to a cryptic post he made on social media.

The move follows a day of erratic posts by West, including some suggesting that he has taken a recent interest in crypto.

“WHEN PEOPLE MAKE ALL THAT MONEY WITH A COIN IS THAT CASH OR CONCEPT,” Kanye wrote Friday. The post was sandwiched between a series of posts where West praised Adolf Hitler amid other anti-semitic and sexist remarks.

Despite the obscenity of Kanye’s recent tweet-storm, many cryptocurrency advocates and companies pleaded for the rapper to “launch a coin.” This included a long post from streamer Faze Banks, who said West was “one of maybe 5 humans on earth” that could “successfully launch a coin.”

Notably, Pump.fun’s official X account also responded to West goading him to launch a token.

“I was proposed 2 million dollars to scam my community,” Kanye posted, including a screenshot of a direct message from an unnamed contact and undocumented time. “Those left of it. I said no and stopped working with their person who proposed it.”

Prediction market Polymarket noted that West’s “odds” of launching a token “just shot up to 46%.” The odds on the market tracking the likelihood of West's memecoin have been fluctuating throughout the day, largely staying below 30%, with about $52,000 in bets placed.

West would hardly be the first celebrity to enter crypto. Just today, David Portnoy promoted what he called a “sh*tcoin” to his sizable social media audience in his first serious return to crypto since promoting the SafeMoon project in 2021.

During the Biden administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Division went after a number of celebrities for unpaid endorsements of crypto, including Kanye West's ex-wife Kim Kardashian for advertising “Ethereum MAX.”