Vitalik Buterin Is ‘Quite Unhappy’ With This Cycle’s Celebrity Crypto Experimentation

It’s been a few weeks since celebrity tokens broke into the crypto space, with famous personalities like Davido, Iggy Azalea, Rich The Kid, Trippie Redd, and Caitlyn Jenner all launching memecoins that saw large boosts of trading activity.

Celebrity tokens have been making waves in the crypto space lately, with several high-profile personalities launching memecoins that have seen massive trading activity.

Davido, Iggy Azalea, Rich The Kid, Trippie Redd, and Caitlyn Jenner are among the celebrities who have recently forayed into the world of crypto tokens. These tokens have, in most cases, seen wild upswings in price, followed by a sharp and rapid plunge in value.

However, Azalea’s Solana-based MOTHER token is an exception to this trend. The token has surged 2,260% after an initial decline and now boasts a market cap of over $100 million.

The frenzy around the MOTHER token has prompted Placeholder VC partner Chris Burniske to take to Twitter and observe that if the token does go on to create sustainable value, it would also be the mother of this cycle’s celebrity experimentation.

Burniske’s comment drew a response from Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, who noted that he has been feeling “quite unhappy” with “this cycle’s celebrity experimentation” so far.

According to Buterin, for a celebrity crypto project to earn his respect, it must offer some kind of public-good end goal, rather than simply enriching the celebrity who issued the token and early adopters.

In his view, these projects would be more valuable if they had some kind of fun mechanics that go beyond just trading a token.

“As much as I dislike token voting DAOs, at least they give *something* for people to do and organize around. The DAO should not fully decide the agenda, but it can have some influence,” Buterin said.

“Make something that lasts 10+ years, rather than bubbling around for a few months and then being forgotten.”

It is worth noting that Buterin has no issue with memecoins themselves, having stated in a March blog post on the subject that he values people’s desire to have fun, and would rather the crypto spaceの流れに乗る than swim against it.

“I want to see higher quality fun projects that contribute positively to the ecosystem and the world around them (and not just by “bringing in users”) get more mindshare,” he said at the time.

Data shared last month by Kaito AI shows that memes were the most dominant crypto narrative after AI, growing its mindshare within the market by 53% from the start of the year until May.