It’s
an
exhausting
trend
that’s
plagued
crypto
for
years:
opportunistic
developers
whipping
up
bunches
of
tokens
inspired
by
some
hot
concept.
The
latest
inspiration
is
one
of
the
most
influential
figures
in
crypto,
at
least
among
those
obsessed
with
memes:
Elon
Musk,
whose
controversial
words
this
week
inspired
the
birth
of
hundreds
of
tokens,
with
some
hitting
market
capitalizations
exceeding
$25
million.
GFY,
short
for
“go
f–k
yourself,”
led
the
pack.
The
token
was
issued
by
someone
soon
after
Musk,
in
an
interview
Wednesday,
shot
those
words
toward
advertisers
who
are
withdrawing
from
his
social
network
X.
More
than
250
GFY
tokens
have
since
been
issued
on
several
networks,
mainly
on
Ethereum,
Solana,
BNB
Chain
and
Arbitrum.
The
market
capitalizations
of
these
vary
from
under
$15,000
to
more
than
$25
million
–
with
the
largest
one
attracting
$19
million
in
trading
volumes
in
the
past
24
hours
from
some
4,000
holders.
Anyone
can
issue
tokens
on
Ethereum
(or
other
blockchains)
with
relative
easy.
It
generally
costs
just
a
few
cents.
And
they
can
be
issued
on
decentralized
exchanges
basically
instantly,
with
essentially
guaranteed
liquidity
for
anyone
wanting
to
trade
them
given
how
DEXs
operate.
Scores
of
TRUCK
tokens
popped
up,
another
apparent
nod
to
Musk,
whose
carmaker
Telsa
debuted
its
Cybertruck
this
week.
These
followed
GROK,
a
token
seemingly
named
the
GrokAI
chatbot
built
by
xAI,
a
division
of
X.
That
token
surged
more
than
10,000%
after
issuance
in
early
November,
only
to
drop
50%
after
its
developer
was
linked
to
failed
projects.
Why
are
meme
coins
so
popular?
Such
tokens
are
the
latest
in
a
year
that
has
seen
crypto
traders
bet
on
tokens
related
to
late
investor
Charlie
Munger
and
hamster
races.
Some
professional
investors
say
meme
coins
and
their
narratives
will
always
remain
a
part
of
the
crypto
ecosystem.
“Meme
coins
are
huge
parts
of
the
crypto
trading
landscape,
whether
we
like
it
or
not,”
James
Wo,
founder
of
crypto
fund
DFG,
said
in
an
interview
conducted
over
Telegram.
“While
the
biggest
currencies
like
bitcoin
and
ether
have
very
low
volatility,
it’s
only
natural
that
traders
will
look
for
opportunities
elsewhere.”
Wo
added:
“Meme
trading
is
a
risky
way
to
try
to
seek
excessive
return,
but
when
it
pans
out,
the
upside
can
be
huge.
So,
even
in
a
bear
market,
some
of
the
meme
coins
will
have
large
up-swing,
even
if
it’s
just
short-term.”