Coinbase’s top lawyer, Paul Grewal, issued an apology to the PepeCoin (PEPE) community, acknowledging that the major crypto exchange had made a mistake in their characterization of the original Pepe the Frog meme. In a Wednesday newsletter, Coinbase described the meme as “co-opted as a hate symbol by alt-right groups.” Grewal’s tweet read, “We screwed up and we are sorry. Yesterday, we shared an overview of the $pepe meme coin to provide a fact-based picture of a trending topic. This did not provide the whole picture of the history of the meme and we apologize to the community.”
This apology comes after backlash from the crypto community, as the hashtag “#DeleteCoinbase” trended on Twitter. The Pepe the Frog meme, initially created as an innocent frog character by artist Matt Furie in 2005, became widely popular as an internet meme. It was eventually embraced by the alt-right and white supremacists during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. However, Furie later filed multiple lawsuits to reclaim his creation from these associations, successfully distancing Pepe the Frog from any alt-right connections.
In recent times, PepeCoin emerged last month as a joke cryptocurrency created as an homage to the Pepe the Frog meme, similar in nature to Dogecoin. Despite no official connection to Furie or the original Pepe character, the coin rapidly gained traction when a crypto investor bought trillions of PEPE for $250 and turned that sum into $1.02 million. Subsequently, PepeCoin’s market cap surged past $1 billion after being launched on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Although many have hailed PepeCoin as a success story, the journey hasn’t been without its setbacks. The coin has fallen over 61% in value since last week’s high and is still worth well under a single cent. Furthermore, PepeCoin’s rapid rise has led to surging Ethereum gas prices, reaching levels unseen in a year.
In conclusion, the PepeCoin community is once again in high spirits following Coinbase’s apology, with community members even portraying Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong as having recommitted to the meme token faith. While PepeCoin’s future remains uncertain, its dedicated community and recent growth highlight the power of memes in the crypto space. Whether seen as a cautionary tale or a testament to the unpredictable nature of the market, PepeCoin’s journey continues to capture the attention of crypto enthusiasts worldwide.
Source: Decrypt
