Meme Coins: A Cautionary Tale of一夜暴富and Busts

阿根廷的布宜諾斯艾利斯（AP） - 阿根廷總統賈維爾·麥利（Javier Milei）正面臨腐敗調查，以提高他對模因硬幣的促進，這是一種高度投機的加密貨幣形式，在唐納德·特朗普總統和他的妻子發起的代幣後，最近的受歡迎程度激增了他們自己的。

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine President Javier Milei is facing a corruption probe into his promotion of a meme coin, a highly speculative form of cryptocurrency that’s seen a recent surge in popularity after President Donald Trump and his wife launched tokens of their own.

阿根廷的布宜諾斯艾利斯（AP） - 阿根廷總統賈維爾·麥利（Javier Milei）正面臨腐敗調查，以促進他促進模因硬幣，這是一種高度投機的加密貨幣形式，在唐納德·特朗普總統和他的妻子發起了自己的代幣之後，最近的普及率激增了。

The budding scandal in Argentina has been dubbed locally as “cryptogate” and has links to a diverse cast of characters, including a high-profile U.S. influencer, a crypto developer who uses the pseudonym “Meow,” and a 28-year-old American entrepreneur who said he helped launch First Lady Melania Trump’s meme coin last month.

阿根廷的萌芽醜聞在當地被稱為“隱秘材料”，並與各種各樣的角色鏈接，包括一位備受矚目的美國影響者，一個使用化名“ Meow”的加密開發人員和28歲的美國人企業家說，他在上個月幫助推出了第一夫人梅拉尼亞·特朗普的模因硬幣。

Here’s an explainer on what happened and where things stand:

這是關於發生的事情和一切所在的解釋者：

First off, what exactly is a meme coin?

首先，模因硬幣到底是什麼？

Meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency that are generally just goofs on internet memes, viral moments or celebrities that aren’t trying to make use of a new techology or solve any new problems. They often have silly names, like Dogecoin, or Fartcoin.

模因硬幣是一種加密貨幣，通常只是互聯網模因，病毒時刻或名人而不試圖利用新技術或解決任何新問題的名人。他們經常有愚蠢的名字，例如Dogecoin或Fartcoin。

Critics – including many cryptocurrency enthusiasts — say they are nothing more than digital Ponzi schemes that exist to enrich insiders at the expense of retail investors. Those more supportive say meme coins shouldn’t be so easily dismissed and could be early indicators of ways in which the internet could revolutionize financial and other transactions.

批評家（包括許多加密貨幣愛好者）說，它們不過是數字龐氏騙局，這些計劃以犧牲零售投資者為代價來豐富內部人士。那些更支持性的說明模因硬幣不應那麼容易被解僱，並且可能是互聯網可以徹底改變財務和其他交易的方式的早期指標。

“New technologies often look like a toy but evolve into something much more powerful over time,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a recent social media post.

Coinbase首席執行官Brian Armstrong在最近的社交媒體帖子中說：“新技術通常看起來像一個玩具，但演變成更強大的東西。”

So, what happened with the meme coin associated with Milei?

那麼，與Milei相關的模因硬幣發生了什麼？

In short, a disaster.

簡而言之，一場災難。

Milei, the tech-loving, chainsaw-wielding, libertarian president of Argentina, posted on X about the meme coin $LIBRA on Friday, just after it had launched, stating he was “encouraging economic growth by funding small businesses and startups.” 

愛國者的自由主義者主席麥利（Milei）是愛好者，揮舞科技的揮舞，揮舞著電鋸，在X上發布了X上關於Meme Coin $ libra的發布，恰恰是在它推出之後，他說他“通過資助小型企業和初創公司來鼓勵經濟增長”。

The coin’s price soared almost immediately, pushing the market value for the project beyond $4 billion.

硬幣的價格幾乎立即飆升，將項目的市場價值推向了40億美元。

A few hours after launch, early holders of the coin started cashing out of the project and its price collapsed.

發射幾個小時後，硬幣的早期持有人開始兌現該項目，其價格崩潰了。

The trajectory of $LIBRA’s price had the hallmarks of a “rug pull,” a not uncommon phenomenon with meme coins. Rug pulls occur when insiders dump their holdings in newly launched meme coins that are soaring in value, which tanks the price and causes losses to newer investors.

$ libra的價格的軌跡具有“地毯拉力”的標誌，這是一種與模因硬幣的現象。當內部人員將其持股量倒在新發射的模因硬幣中時，就會發生地毯拉力，這些硬幣的價值飆升，坦克價格並損失了新的投資者。

Milei deleted his initial post after the price collapsed and distanced himself from the project. By Monday, dozens of criminal complaints had been filed, a judge in Argentina had been selected to investigate allegations of fraud and Argentina’s main opposition party called for his impeachment.

麥莉（Milei）的價格崩潰並與該項目保持距離之後，麥莉（Milei）刪除了他的最初帖子。到週一，已經提出了數十起刑事訴訟，阿根廷的一名法官被選為調查有關欺詐的指控，阿根廷的主要反對黨呼籲彈each。

A defiant Milei insisted he had acted in good faith and said that he had asked the Justice Ministry’s Anti-Corruption Office to investigate if he or anyone else had committed wrongdoing.

一位反抗的麥莉堅持認為自己是真誠的行動，並說他已要求司法部的反腐敗辦公室調查他或其他任何人是否犯有不法行為。

Who is a key player in this?

誰是關鍵球員？

Hayden Davis, a 28-year-old American crypto developer who said he’s an adviser to Milei and helped launch $LIBRA, has emerged as a central figure. Milei’s office said the government has no connection to Davis.

海頓·戴維斯（Hayden Davis）是一位28歲的美國加密開發商，他說他是麥利（Milei）的顧問，並幫助推出了$ libra，他已經成為中心人物。米利辦公室說，政府與戴維斯沒有任何联系。

In an interview with independent crypto journalist Stephen Findeisen, Davis said that meme coins are essentially a rigged game that benefit a small group of people at the expense of retail investors.

戴維斯（Davis）在接受獨立加密記者史蒂芬·findeisen（Stephen Findeisen）的採訪時說，模因硬幣本質上是一款操縱的遊戲，使一小群人受益於零售投資者。

“It is an insiders’ game. This is an unregulated casino,” Davis said.

“這是一個內部人的遊戲。這是一個不受管制的賭場，”戴維斯說。

Davis said the $LIBRA coin was not a rug pull but was supposed to be an experiment to show the power and utility of digital currency that’s consistent with Milei’s desire for Argentina to be a hub for innovation.

戴維斯說，$天秤座的硬幣不是地毯的拉力，而是應該是一個實驗，以表明數字貨幣的力量和實用性，這與麥莉希望阿根廷成為創新的樞紐一致。

Davis also said he was involved in the launch of Melania Trump’s meme coin. Launched just before her husband took office, that meme coin’s price underwent a similar trajectory as $LIBRA – quickly soaring upon launch and then dropping. The first lady’s office declined to comment.

戴維斯還說，他參與了梅拉尼亞·特朗普的模因硬幣的推出。在丈夫上任之前，該模因硬幣的價格與$ libra的軌跡相似 - 在發射時迅速飆升，然後掉落。第一夫人的辦公室拒絕發表評論。

Who else was involved?

還有誰參與？

Online influencer Dave Portnoy, who founded the Barstool Sports podcast empire and is a vocal gambling enthusiast, said on social media that Davis had told him about $LIBRA’s launch before it went public and asked him to promote it.

在線影響者Dave Portnoy創立了Barstool Sports Podcast Empire，並且是一位聲樂賭博的愛好者，他在社交媒體上說，戴維斯曾告訴他$ libra的發布會，然後才公開並要求他推廣它。

Portnoy said there were also discussions about the possibility of him interviewing Milei, much like he’d done with President Donald Trump during his first term. Portnoy said he did not buy any $LIBRA until after Milei’s post on X and lost money on the purchase when the price crashed. Davis said he reimbursed Portnoy’s losses.

Portnoy說，也有關於他採訪麥利的可能性的討論，就像他在第一學期中與唐納德·特朗普總統所做的那樣。 Portnoy說，直到Milei在X上發表帖子並在價格崩潰時丟失了錢後，他才購買任何$ Libra。戴維斯說，他償還了波特諾伊的損失。

“Meow” is the anonymous co-founder of a crypto firm involved in launching meme coins, including $LIBRA, said on social media that they were confident that no one at the firms had been involved in insider trading or financial wrongdoing. Still, Meow said the company had hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation and that one of the company’s leaders had resigned for showing “a

“ Meow”是一家參與推出模因硬幣（包括$ libra）的加密公司的匿名聯合創始人，在社交媒體上說，他們有信心，這些公司沒有人參與內幕交易或財務不當行為。米奧說，儘管如此