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| Pic Source: Coincu |
In a recent development, Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, took to Twitter to express his apologies for misrepresenting the nature of the meme coin known as PEPE. Grewal acknowledged the misunderstanding and offered his sincere apologies to the community affected by the confusion.
Coinbase, in their latest newsletter, reported a remarkable surge in trading volume for the meme coin, with figures exceeding $2.3 billion in the previous week. This marked a significant increase of six times compared to the week prior and represented the highest level since May 2021.
The rise of PEPE had become a driving force in the recent frenzy surrounding meme coins. Since its release in mid-April, PEPE has experienced an astonishing growth rate of nearly 55,000%, propelling its market capitalization to $1.8 billion in less than three weeks. This exceptional performance has positioned PEPE as one of the fastest-growing tokens in history.
However, Coinbase found itself in hot water when it inadvertently depicted the Pepe the Frog meme as originating from a source associated with right-wing hate. This portrayal caused widespread confusion and triggered a flurry of discussions on Twitter, where the hashtag #deletecoinbase quickly gained traction in the early hours of Thursday.
In their newsletter, Coinbase described the token as being based on the Pepe the Frog meme, which initially emerged on the internet nearly two decades ago as a comic-strip character. Over time, however, it was co-opted by alt-right groups and subsequently came to be viewed as a hate symbol, as noted by the Anti-Defamation League.
Realizing the misstep, Coinbase’s chief legal officer promptly issued a tweet expressing regret for the false characterization of PEPE. He acknowledged that the introduction provided did not accurately portray the overall context, and Coinbase sincerely apologized to the affected community. Responding to the criticism received from the community, Coinbase swiftly edited the report to rectify the error.
Following these events, CoinMarketCap reported a decline of over 21% in the value of PEPE within a 24-hour period. Additionally, Coinbase’s stock experienced a decrease of more than 4%, reflecting the impact of the controversy on the platform’s overall performance.
