The cryptocurrency sector is a breeding ground for community-driven projects for the virus, but the rise of racist meme coins has sparked debate over the limits of decentralization.
The issue has attracted new attention after rapper Kanye West, who was currently running on “YE,” announced plans to launch the so-called “Swastic Ein” in a series of controversial social media posts. .
West's statement, including anti-Semitic remarks about the Jewish community, shows a shift from his previous criticism of the celebrity-backed coin of “prey” to fans.
On Saturday, West seemed to have changed his mind.
“I'm going to open a CA [contract address] First for my swast in to Jews and my friends and family,” he wrote. In addition to the announcement, the “Yes Walk” singer appeared to be seeking guidance on blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana and BNB chains. At the same time, he also tried to contact Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
The posts sparked backlash, but they also highlighted a wider issue: an increase in meme coins that promote extremist ideology.
Trouble trends
The token you proposed is not an isolated case. Over the past year, a wave of racist and offensive tokens has been launched, prompting debate over whether decentralized platforms should implement content moderation.
Some of these tokens used racial slurs and Nazi images for their brands, and tried to gain traction in the online militant community.
Hitler Musk, for example, appeared on Pump.fun about a month ago while X's owner Elon Musk spoke at the inauguration event for President Donald Trump. fascism).
Before that, in 2021, a token named Hitler was temporarily surfaced and then delisted on the exchange. Another coin, “Groyper,” is linked to the far-right online community.
Despite the fleeting nature of these projects, their existence highlights how blockchain technology is open and unauthorized, but can be exploited to spread harmful ideologies.
Who is working on this issue?
As racist meme coins multiply, some of the crypto industry are taking steps to curb their spread. The Solana Foundation has acknowledged the issue with its foundation's Strategic Director Austin Federa, suggesting that in-app filtering could be a potential solution.
This allows wallet apps and decentralized exchanges to screen tokens with offensive names and images. However, implementing such measures in distributed systems remains a challenge.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin criticizes the rise of Meme Coins in relation to dictatorship and racist themes, calling for high-quality projects in the crypto space.
Last March, Buterin expressed concern over an increase in speculative assets that provide almost value beyond short-term hype. He specifically denounced the Solana-based meme coin as “openly superresist” and denounced the tokens linked to the totalitarian regime.
Buterin emphasized that there was “no enthusiasm” for projects driven by scams, ragpals or fleeting excitement that ultimately disappoints investors.
But at today's day and age, anyone can launch a token with a meme coin generator (i.e. pump.fun) without supervision. As a result, the problem persists.
What's next?
According to Coindesk, West's planned token (probably named “Yzy” rather than “Swasticoin”) is intended as a workaround for Shopify's restrictions on his Yeezy store. Reports suggest that he plans to maintain 70% of his token supply for himself, further increasing speculation that this is more about economic benefits than ideology.
This is one of YE's previous attempts to monetize Nazi images, including the sale of a T-shirt labeled “HH-01” (widely interpreted as a shorthand for “Hailu Hitler”). I will do it.
Despite your claim that the token will be released next week, it remains unclear whether the project will come true or whether it is another example of inflammatory rhetoric designed to induce anger. is. In his latest post, he reads “Time to launch your own blockchain,” making his real crypto ambitions uncertain.
The West is reportedly inspired by the official Trump (Trump), and President Memecoin President Trump launched two days before his second appointment. It is currently down 78% from an all-time high.
Trump frowned upon the same large distribution of insider ownership. 80% of Trump is now held by CIC Digital, a business entity with ties to the president.
You too wanted 80% ownership, but was negotiated by 70%, Coindesk. If his tokens achieve just a small portion of Trump's success, his interests could still be worth millions of dollars.
But what's certain is that while racist memecoin continues to test boundaries of the “wild west” nature of the code, industry leaders are working on ways to mitigate offensive content It's about being there.
