Commemorative cryptocurrencies is the puzzling phrase that covers for Just Another Ripoff, so far as I can see. Long-time readers should be unsurprised at my attitude, as I’ve yet to see any real unique utility to them. For example, the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II has resulted in this sort of thing:
In the days following the queen’s passing, more than 40 types of meme coins were minted, industry data and media reports show. These virtual forms of currency are often created by anonymous people with access to coin-creating websites — and an idea for a clever name. And they are notorious for wild swings in value.
That includes Queen Elizabeth Inu coin, which broadly honors her deathand is built and available on various cryptocurrency platforms. The coin is currently priced around $0.000003, after a nearly 30,000 percent surge and drop from where it started. There’s also Long Live the Queen, a coin that lost steam within hours of minting. [WaPo]
And there’s an NFT (non-fungible token) for her as well. But –
Ethan McMahon, an economist for the crypto research firm Chainalysis, said interest in web3 products relating to the queen have garnered less interest than he expected. For example, the NFT called RIP The Queen, which came out shortly after her death, had 1,817 people purchase it the first day, Chainalysis data showed. As of Thursday morning, it fell to one. This comes as transactions on leading NFT marketplaces hit historic lows.
It may only be that McMahon & colleagues overestimated the response, but it may also mean that folks, having had their fingers burned, or, better yet, only those of their friends or those they read about, are figuring out that one has to tread very carefully in this arena.
Or don’t bother at all, because … there’s nothing essential to cryptocurrencies.
In view of that statement, I’ve been wrestling with whether the following statement is really sensible – or a cry for help from an industry that, so far, has not proven it’s worthy of help from a government that it was specifically and categorically developed to evade:
Despite that, crypto critics, analysts and experts agree the government needs to step in and regulate, especially given scams that have happened recently. In November, creators of the Squid Game memecoin let it rise in value over 11 days to $2,860 and then left the project, driving its price down to nearly zero and walking away with $3.3 million in investors’ funds.
And why? The fact that someone gets hurt doesn’t mean we need to rush forth and fix it, because that implies what’s to be fixed is worth it. And that’s not yet obvious, now is it? I’m still stumped as to what unique utility cryptocurrencies fulfill. I’ve already rejected the inflation argument. It consumes energy like mad, and it gives scammers unique opportunities to transfer wealth from the wealthy, the middle class, and even the moderately poor to the pockets of the scammers.
And what does a fix get us? Another barnacle, this one of dubious societal value?
I’d like to see the Feds debate that question, rather than rush forth to show their leadership without discussing it.
