Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed his dissatisfaction with the current wave of celebrity crypto projects, emphasizing their lack of meaningful societal contributions. He highlighted projects like Stoner Cats, which actually fund real initiatives, as more commendable. Buterin also detailed the criteria that celebrity crypto projects must meet to gain his respect. Vitalik Buterin Critiques […]
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Celebrity Memecoins: Iggy Azalea And Hulk Hogan Beef Before $17 Million Rug Pull
Celebrity memecoins have been the talk of the town for the past two weeks. A trend that resurged at the end of May quickly became one of the biggest narratives around the crypto community.
The industry has seen controversies, rug pulls, and Vitalik Buterin’s thoughts on the celebrity token frenzy. In the phenomenon’s most recent development, WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan beefed with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.
Celebrity Memecoins A Week Later
Despite the trend starting around May 20 with influencer tokens, celebrity tokens didn’t gain mainstream traction until reality TV star and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner launched her JENNER memecoin. Alongside Jenner, rapper Rich the Kid joined the crypto community with RICH.
However, both tokens were surrounded by controversy after it was revealed that alleged serial scammer Sahil Arora was involved in the launch. Several other artists and personalities joined the crypto space to launch their memecoins, including Lil Pump, Davido, Trippie Red, and MoneyBagg Yo. Some of these launches appear to be linked to Arora’s scams.
A week later, most celebrity memecoins saw a significant price decline or ended up as a rug pull scam. JENNER, which kickstarted the celebrity mania, is currently 81% down from its all-time high (ATH) registered on May 27.
The Olympian’s token, described as “the goddess of Solana,” went from trading around .04273 to .009072. This significant decrease has also cut its market capitalization from its million peak to .5 million.
Hulk Hogan Wrestles MOTHER And Dumps His Fans
On Thursday, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan took X to announce the launch of his Hulkmania (HULK) token. The memecoin skyrocketed 500% within two hours and quickly reached a market cap of million.
The launch turned sour when investors found Hogan had sold his HULK bag and deleted his posts mentioning the token. In minutes, the token’s market cap plummeted to million.
During the hours that Hogan’s X account promoted the token, the retired wrestler seemingly targeted Azalea and MOTHER. In an X post, Hogan replied to Azalea, saying, “You suck at pumping. $HULK has the real milk.”
Additionally, he shared two now-deleted Instagram posts beefing with the Australian rapper. In one of them, Hogan Azalea’s profile picture and captioned it, “Sahil does it best.”
Before deleting all his HULK-related posts, Hogan shared an Instagram story claiming that he had been hacked. According to the post, none of the publications came from him and soon would be removed. Later, his X account was wiped completely, and Instagram comments were limited.
The crypto community grew concerned as the mention of Arora’s name suggested his involvement in the scam. However, it remains unclear whether Hogan’s website, Instagram, and X account were all hacked or if the retired wrestler’s team was involved.
Vitalik Buterin Vs Koala Vitalik?
Earlier this week, Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, criticized the ongoing celebrity token phenomenon. On X, Buterin stated he is “quite unhappy” with the crypto space’s celebrity experimentation.
Buterin explained his concern regarding the launch of tokens with no purpose other than being a get-rich-quick scheme. Additionally, he suggested some features that celebrity memecoins should have for him “to be more willing to respect it.” The list included a “public-good goal that it’s serving.”
To his criticism, Azalea responded by claiming that Buterin “was just hangry.” Moreover, she seemingly named a Koala after Ethereum’s founder. The rapper uploaded a video announcing the donations saved another Koala. Its name? Koala Vitalik.
Azalea launched a “MOTHER fund” to help save Koalas infected with chlamydia. For the past week, the rapper has received donations in memecoins and several cryptocurrencies for the Koala cause.
Additionally, Azalea is giving her token utility. The rapper launched a Mother merchandise store that accepts MOTHER as payment. Ultimately, the token continued to soar after reaching new ATHs and recently breaking above the 0 million market cap.
Mother Token Celebrity Iggy Azalea Mocks Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin in Breastfeeding Meme
Iggy Azalea, the female rapper and composer behind the MOTHER token issued on Solana, mocked Vitalik Buterin, an Ethereum co-founder, using a meme that shows her carrying a baby with Buterin’s face after being breastfed. Besides posting the described meme, Azalea stated that “he was just hangry (sic).” Azalea’s reaction comes after Buterin’s statements against […]
Bitcoin News
‘Solana Is For Baddies’: Rapper Iggy Azalea Joins The Controversial Celebrity Token Frenzy
For the past week, a controversial celebrity token trend has emerged. Mainstream media figures began launching Solana-based memecoins and seemingly showing interest in cryptocurrencies.
The latest star to join the celebrity token frenzy is Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who saw a controversial launch similar to Caitlyn Jenner’s JENNER token.
Who Is Solana?
On Monday, Azalea surprised the crypto community by showing interest in cryptocurrencies. The rapper and model posted on X asking, “Who is Solana? I don’t know that bitch.”
The post has gathered over 1.8 million views and caused controversy in different communities. “Stan Twitter” interpreted the post as a drag to American R&B singer SZA, which caused many fans to attack Azalea. However, the rapper quickly clarified the issue, replying, “Girl, I’m talking about crypto.”
After that, Azalea found her introduction to the crypto community overshadowed by the allegations of her involvement with alleged scammer Sahil Arora. As reported by NewsBTC, Arora was allegedly responsible for the launch of several celebrity and influencer tokens, which he ultimately rugged.
Rapper Rich The Kid and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner called him out for scamming them and taking advantage of their followers. Both celebrities continued their crypto journey, promoting their tokens and engaging with community members.
Following the scam allegations, Arora seemingly has continued to take advantage of crypto investors. Azalea is accusing the alleged serial scammer of “using her image” as the rapper distances herself from his practices.
In The Fastlane From Music To Crypto
Azalea explained that Arora and her team had a conversation regarding crypto, but her recently launched token was unrelated to him. Allegedly, Arora had fabricated fake screenshots and used the rapper’s name to raise over 0,000 in a presale for a token named IGGY.
As an X user reported, Arora claimed to be working with the Australian rapper on Telegram. He stated that his next “mega launch” would happen in the next 12-24 hours.
After raising 2.246 Solana (SOL), the alleged scammer told investors they would get “automating WL to all further launches.” Additionally, investors would receive a “10% SOL airdrop rationally” from Arora’s profits on each launch and an “airdrop of $iggy when we hit m market cap.”
However, Azalea launched a different Solana-based token called MOTHER on Tuesday. The token references the LGTBQ+ culture term that got popularized in recent years in online stan culture.
Azalea’s token was launched only a few hours after Arora’s IGGY token, which confused investors. After being asked, the rapper explained that she launched her Solana-based token to stop Arora from taking advantage of her name:
I never had a date to, it was something I had interest in hence the convo with my ppl. He made a weird presale yesterday and said I was making a coin with him today so I decided to drop one so he couldn’t use me for his weird scam. If I have a coin of my own figured his would die. It’s that simple.
The community continued questioning her links to Arora after posting an Instagram story with a man looking like him. However, it was later revealed that the individual was Azalea’s brother, Mathias Kelly.
MOTHER Beats IGGY
According to Solana Floor, MOTHER reached a market cap of million at its peak. The token soared by 63,000% in the following hours, going from .00004968 to .03179.
In the last 16 hours, the token has amassed a trading volume of 6.8 million. At writing time, MOTHER is trading at .01634, representing a 21,000% surge from its launch price.
In comparison, Arora’s IGGY token saw its price soar to .009288 after launch before plummeting below the .00020 range. Currently, the scam token trades at .0001354 and has a market capitalization of 4,000.
Nigerian Instagram Celebrity Could Face Jail Time for ‘Spraying’ National Currency
Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Pascal Okechukwu, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of abusing naira banknotes. The charges against Okechukwu relate to three incidents in which he allegedly tampered with or “sprayed” NGN500 banknotes. Another Nigerian celebrity, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, received a six-month prison sentence for the same offence. Nigerian Authorities Clamp Down on Naira ‘Spraying’ […]
Bitcoin News
Celebrity NFTs – What Do They Actually Achieve?
More and more celebrities are joining in on buying and creating NFTs. But where can you actually buy a celebrity NFT? And what does it achieve?
During your morning social media scroll, you may have noticed, among all the selfies and vacation photos, the messages from celebrities endorsing NFTs.
NFTs are assets on the blockchain that are unique thanks to their identifying information recorded in smart contracts. Creators may tokenize anything from music and photographs to videos or illustrations using NFTs.
Most of the discord surrounding NFTs goes down on Twitter since the platform supports NFTs being used as profile pictures in hexagonal frames instead of the typical circle frames everyone else has to use. As the hype grows, celebrities like Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, and Gwyneth Paltrow have joined the bandwagon. If you have the rare privilege of owning a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, you know you get exclusive access to communities and digital rooms where your favorite celebrity hangs out and talks to fans.
But it’s not just about buying the latest ape from the Bored Ape Yacht Club or nabbing the latest XCOPY artwork. Celebrities are now creating their very own NFT pieces; Snoop Dogg, for example, has his collection up on OpenSea, and Paris Hilton has teamed up with Superplastic to curate the “Past Lives, New Beginnings” collection.
Canadian musician, Grimes, has sold million worth of digital artworks owing to the fact that she was among the first to cash in on the NFT game. Her WarNymph collection of 10 artworks made Grimes among the best-selling NFT creators in the world, successfully creating enough hype and demand for her work.
Even Eminem jumped on the bandwagon when he released his “SHADYCON” collection on Nifty Gateway, raising .8 million selling digital action figures and instrumental tracks.
The problem here, of course, is that not everybody can get their hands on a piece of art created by their favorite star. When they miss out on upcoming celebrity NFT drops, they miss out on the chance to connect with these celebrities. This creates an untapped potential in the space, and one company has figured out how to capitalize on it while giving fans a chance to get closer to their idols.
With so many celebrities emerging as voices for cryptocurrencies and NFTs today, there is a need to create a space for singers, actors, and sports stars where they may produce and host their collections for a wider audience. Making it easier for them to join in the blockchain revolution may even encourage long-time fans of these artists to take the plunge into cryptocurrency and NFTs themselves.
This platform for celebrities will be hosted by nOFTEN, a brand-new NFT marketplace bringing the luxury gallery experience to the digital world. This digital gallery, however, will only feature collections curated by celebrities for fans to trade, share, buy, sell, and experience special moments never seen before.
The platform serves as a medium to connect artists with their fans, creating a simple way for them to engage with dedicated fans and reveal exclusive content in the form of NFTs. These contents would include a personalized video, a new song, a chance to dine with a celebrity, and a video call, among other prizes.
All of the above would be supported by the blockchain network, Etherlite, and incorporating these along with the website will tie the whole project together and encourage both communities – artists and fans – to participate and engage with each other.
The digital gap is closing as people move to the metaverse for everything from work and school to grocery shopping and sports. nOFTEN closes the gap further by connecting artists with their adoring fanbase, providing both with an opportunity to learn, marvel at the art, and grow.
Taiko to Release NFT Mystery Boxes on Binance NFT Marketplace, Featuring Internet Sensation Celebrity Cats for a Good Cause
The NFC-NEKO collection will launch on the world’s largest curated NFT Marketplace – Binance NFT.
Taiko NFT is pleased to announce it will soon release Non-Fungible Cat NEKO (NFC-NEKO), the first-ever collection of NFT mystery boxes that feature real-life celebrity cats. The collection will feature household feline names that have shaped the internet and pop culture, including Grumpy Cat, Smudge Lord, Coffee, Coby the Cat, as well as Izzy and Zoë. NFC-NEKO’s launch will take place on Binance NFT Marketplace on January 7, 2022, 11:00 AM UTC.
As part of the NFC-NEKO, these celebrity cats will be dropped into a storyline in which they don robot suits to defend their one true obsession — food — against ominous forces that have taken over their world. The cats must unite to repel their common enemy and protect each other.
Aside from the great fun to be had with the NFC-NEKO collection, part of each purchase will go to a good cause. Half of all royalties and 5% of gross proceeds will be donated to five animal welfare charities chosen by the humans who care for the felines featured in the collection, ensuring that NFC-NEKOs and their holders do good in the real world.
Each NFC-NEKO is designed by Maxime Girault, a digital artist based in Paris and New York who specializes in illustrations that feature adorable animals. NFC-NEKO’s name draws inspiration from maneki-neko, the Japanese “lucky cat” figures that are meant to bring good fortune to their owners, linking up with a style that has been adopted by Girault in his work.
In all, 27,200 mystery boxes will be released, each priced at 28 BUSD, or roughly US. They will come in four tiers of rarity:
- Normal NFC-NEKOs include five of the most famous internet cats in their unique mecha units. Each suit is customized to represent its pilot and their personality.
- Rare NFC-NEKOs embody classic designs with alternative forms — Grumpy Cat Ancient Tree Version, Smudge Vegetal Ingested Mode, Coby Space Expedition, Coffee Porcelain Armor, and Zoë Flourished They each will have a unique solo adventure.
- Super Rare golden mecha NFC-NEKOs merge to form the Best Cats Neko, unleashing collaborative power to protect the world. These include Smudge Red Force Joy, Coffee Blue Force Rider, Coby Double Charged Black Force, and Zoë Plastic Loaded Pink Force.
- Super Super Rare NFC-NEKO is the team commander, Grumpy Cat Eternal Green Force, who will lead the full NFC-NEKO force to defend peace and prosperity.
About Taiko NFT
Taiko NFT is an international creative agency that empowers intellectual property holders and creators to tell their stories and build their unique communities through NFTs. Leveraging blockchain technology, Taiko aims to reshape the ways musicians, artists, and brands interact with their supporters. In particular, Taiko believes in cultivating an offline element or experience to drive mass adoption of NFTs.
About Binance NFT Marketplace
Binance NFT, the official NFT marketplace of Binance, offers an open market for artists, creators, crypto enthusiasts, NFT collectors and creative fans around the world with the best liquidity and minimal fees.
Currently, Binance NFT consists of three product lines: Premium Events, Mystery Box and a Marketplace. Now, Binance aims to build the first and largest GameFi NFT trading platform for gaming projects via IGO (Initial Game Offering) – featuring core in-game assets from top gaming projects.
ConsenSys Backed Virtue Poker and Binance NFT to Launch “Mystery Box” for Celebrity Tournament on Sept 23
The crypto and blockchain space is maturing at a rapid pace. Most financial industry experts agree that this nascent industry is here to stay because there are many different use-cases emerging for blockchain-enabled platforms.
In addition to the rise of Bitcoin (BTC) as a widely accepted medium-of-exchange and store-of-value, Ethereum (ETH) has become a globally recognized name in the crypto space. Large corporations such as Visa have acknowledged Ethereum’s role in the future of finance and its ability to support a wide range of other applications.
A growing number of online platforms have also been deploying solutions on Ethereum, despite its relatively slow transaction speeds. Even though there are many other blockchains that outperform Ethereum in terms of transactions per second (TPS) and cheaper transaction costs, they do not have the same powerful network effect that Ethereum has been able to acquire. There are also many Ethereum scaling solutions such as Polygon that will aim to make the leading smart contract platform a lot more efficient in the foreseeable future.
Yet Another Ethereum-powered Platform
Virtue Poker, a decentralized platform developed on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, reveals that it will be holding a Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament, which will be taking place on September 26, 2021.
The charity poker tournament participants will reportedly include Hall of Fame (HOF) poker player, Phil Ivey, former NBA all-star Paul Pierce, YouTube’s superstar Mr. Beast, TRON blockchain founder and serial crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, Hollywood actor and accomplished filmmaker Vince Vaughn, Polygon Co-Founder Sandeep Nailwal, and Ethereum Co-Founder and ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin.
The Binance Mysterybox Collection
To commemorate this special event, the Virtue Poker team plans to launch a Binance MysteryBox collection, starting on September 23, 2021 – representing each card in a typical 52 card deck. Collectors who possess the winning hand for each knockout during the Celebrity Event will get a chance to win prizes ranging from ,500 to a ,000 reward for the top prize.
Participants need to purchase two mystery boxes in order to assemble a hand. The participants can then trade with each other so that they can assemble the best poker hand through the secondary market.
The Mystery box will reportedly include an Ace of Spades that will come with Phil’s digital signature and a ,000 prize.
Prizes
All participants with completed hands can compete and have an opportunity to win:
A 00 price for the winning hand for each knockout. If multiple players own the hand, then the 00 prize will be split equally among all the winners. Furthermore, the player who possesses the championship knockout hand will be able to claim a ,000 prize.
If more than one player is holding the championship knockout hand, then only 1 player will be randomly selected to claim the reward
Participants are able to collect as many as (50) completed hands (100 boxes). Participants must also HOLD the winning hand in their Binance account to be eligible for the rewards. Winning players should email support@nfkings.io for confirmation.
Freeroll Tournament
Virtue Poker will also hold a freeroll tournament where ALL holders of (2) mystery boxes should be getting exclusive access to participate in a ,000 free-roll tournament on the Virtue Poker platform.
Virtue Poker NFT holders need to send a message to support@nfkings.io with their UID and NFT screenshot to obtain the Virtue Poker referral code.
Supporting NFT Use-Cases
The Virtue Poker team is looking forward to hosting their Celebrity Tournament and are focused on offering a truly unique NFT experience for their viewers that plan to tune in. Through their partnership with leading crypto exchange Binance, they plan to support the adoption of the Virtue Poker platform and also that of NFTs. They’ve decided to take this step to show that there’s yet another real-world use case for non-fungibel tokens or digital collectibles: interacting through a live event.
The team has also thanked the Virtue Poker community for their support of their platform as they continue to expand their ecosystem in the nascent blockchain-enabled gaming industry.
As noted in the announcement, Virtue Poker is described as a decentralized poker platform that leverages the Ethereum blockchain as well as P2P networking to offer an online poker platform that is safe, “honest” and fun. It was established in 2016 within New York-based Consensys, the leading Ethereum development studio and incubator launched by crypto billionaire and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin back in 2014.
Backed by Consensys and stakeholder Phil Ivey, Virtue Poker aims to make blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT)-powered betting mainstream.
Celebrity Crypto Poker Tournament on Virtue Poker Platform to Be Live Streamed on Twitch
Virtue Poker will be organizing a high-value celebrity poker tournament to support charitable organizations. During the event, viewers can participate in giveaways and win rare NFT rewards.
Virtue Poker’s Upcoming Poker Tournament Has a Lot to Offer for Everyone
Virtue Poker, funded by well-known industry investors, including Pantera Capital, ConsenSys, DFG Group, and more, is all set to host a celebrity poker tournament on its platform. The no-limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament will support charitable causes as twelve renowned celebrities battle it out for the top spot. In addition to winning rare NFTs, the event’s winner gets to donate their winnings to any charitable organization of their choice.
While most participants’ names are yet to be disclosed, Virtue Poker’s upcoming tournament will include renowned influencers, celebrities, and industry leaders alongside poker veteran and Hall of Famer Phil Ivey and members of the Virtue Poker Pro team, Ethereum Co-Founder Joe Lubin, Founder and CEO of Ethernity Chain Nick Rose, NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, and many more.
Overseen by CEO Ryan Gittleson, Virtue Poker delivers a provably fair online poker experience via a decentralized peer-to-peer poker platform deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. The decentralized poker platform, backed by ConsenSys, has already partnered with SuperFarm, a well-known NFT platform, to offer its IDO ahead of its mainnet launch.
Gittleson remarks, “Virtue Poker is excited to take this next step to drive awareness and adoption of the world’s first blockchain-based P2P poker platform. Through our partnership with SuperStarter and our execution of our Celebrity Poker Charity event, Virtue Poker will be able to grow our community’s foundation as well as showcase the platform to a broad audience.”
The poker tournament will be broadcast on Twitch as well on the channels of the participants. Virtue Poker has kept the rules of the tournament pretty straightforward. A total of 12 players, including the celebrities and one community member each from Virtue Poker, SuperFarm, and Ethernity will sit at the table, battling it out head-to-head. Following the first round, only half of the players will move to the final table.
In addition to the high stakes, each participant will also receive a unique NFT powered by SuperFarm. These NFTs will also be used as chips in the tournament as ‘bounty.’ Winning players will be entitled to the NFTs of the players they beat during the event. Besides, viewers can predict the outcomes during the livestream and win amazing prizes.
Other than the charitable cause, the tournament will also include rewards and giveaways for the users streaming the event from their homes. From ‘easter-egg’-themed giveaways to NFTs, users can win several prizes by watching the event live.
Per poker pro and team member Phil Ivey, “After working with the Virtue Poker team for over 3 years, I’m excited to see the platform launch and be part of their first live stream event on this innovative platform.”
VR Content Platform Dvision Network to Auction Crypto Celebrity Avatar and Other Limited-Edition NFTs
Dvision Network, the blockchain-based virtual reality (VR) content ecosystem, has announced the introduction of five limited-edition NFT characters, to be auctioned later this month. These NFTs are the first among many unique tokens to be introduced by the project as it continues to enhance the VR industry.
The limited-edition NFTs will be auctioned on OpenSea – a leading decentralized NFT trading and auction platform to mark Dvision’s own primary NFT marketplace’s upcoming launch. Those successfully bidding at the auction to acquire these valuable crypto assets will also become eligible for certain privileges within the Dvision ecosystem, including access to NFTs from other limited-edition series and DVI token incentives. One of the five limited-edition NFT designs is the avatar prototype of celebrities in the crypto world, which has become the centerpiece of the entire exercise.
“We intend to supply these sorts of unique NFT items to the prospective Dvision Network users in order to add the fun elements to their gamified metaverse ecosystem experience, and to let them play joyfully, surfing across the virtual reality and open-world via the usage of the celebrity characters,” said JungHyun Eom, CEO of Dvision Network
The auctioned NFTs can be used within the Dvision metaverse and traded on primary and secondary NFT markets.
Dvision’s Vision for Virtual Reality
Dvision is one among a handful of crypto projects in the VR segment. The project aims to improve the space by addressing the existing challenges surrounding content quality, customization, market expansion, and copyright protection in the VR content market. The three primary services on the Dvision network making it possible include:
- VR-City – a public space within the virtual world for users to visit and experience a diverse range of VR content.
- VR-Space – a feature that enables individuals and businesses to create their own custom virtual space
- VR-Market – a public platform for users to trade their VR items
While the use of blockchain technology makes tracing and enforcing copyright protections easier, the availability of other resources in an open, readily accessible platform encourages community participation in the virtual reality space. The collaborative environment offered by Dvision Network will help individual developers, studios, businesses, advertisers and end-users join forces to create and consume quality virtual reality content.
Dvision Network is establishing a strong partner network to make its ecosystem secure, user-friendly and easily accessible. It has already joined forces with Chainlink, Blockchain Game Alliance, Blockwater Capital, Matic, Arkane Network, Coinbase Custody, Upbit Safe and more.
DVI in Dvision Network
The Dvision blockchain network is built on Ethereum protocol and fueled by DVI utility token. DVI is also the preferred payment method within the Dvision ecosystem where users, developers and advertisers can buy and sell digital content, promote their businesses, and even acquire their own space in the virtual world by staking.
In another milestone, Bithumb Korea has listed the DVI/BTC trading pair on the platform. Soon, it will include DVI/KRW following the project’s performance in the recently concluded “BTC Open” event. Other exchanges listing DVI include CoinOne, Uniswap and Hoo.
The limited-edition NFT auction will help in further adoption of the Dvision Network. It offers the community an opportunity to acquire a unique digital asset and receive additional perpetual benefits within the ecosystem.