Coinbase Faces Twitter Backlash over Newsletter on Meme Coin Pepe

Read this Term-based meme coin, Pepe, as a coin “that has been
co-opted as a hate symbol by alt-right groups,” citing the Anti-Defamation
League for the description.

Pepe, which
was launched in mid-April, is named after the Pepe the Frog internet meme. Over the
weekend, the meme coin became
the fastest Ethereum token to hit the $1 billion mark as meme coin trading topped $2.3 billion during the
past week. However,
the market capitalization of Pepe has dropped significantly in the past seven
days, from about $1.65 billion to about $627 million, according to
CoinMarketCap.

“For a few,
speculation on meme coins has
led to massive profits, but that doesn’t come without risks too — sometimes
meme coin
frenzies even precede broad declines in Bitcoin and Ethereum,” the article stated.

The newsletter article on Coinbase ended with a disclaimer that noted: “The views and opinions expressed
herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Coinbase or its employees.” However, the description of Pepe as a ‘hate symbol’
appeared to have unsettled some in the cryptocurrency community, regardless.

Reacting, so-called Cryptopunk rapper, Spottie WiFi, called the Pepe community “a movement.”

#DELETECOINBASE AND SHORT $COIN THIS IS A MOVEMENT NOT A MOMENT FUCK AROUND N FIND OUT IF U WANT TO @BRIAN_ARMSTRONG@COINBASE$PEPE#PEPE#PEPECOIN ???? pic.twitter.com/cQgDtK4tjT

— Spottie WiFi ???? (@SpottieWiFi) May 11, 2023

Kenobi, a so-called musician and educator, noted that “Pepe is not a symbol of hate,” adding that he will be closing down his accounts with Coinbase.

I will be closing my personal and business accounts with @Coinbase and moving them to @Gemini.#PEPE IS NOT A SYMBOL OF HATE@brian_armstrong, the $PEPE community DEMANDS that you retract your vulgar statement about #PEPECOIN!!#DELETECOINBASE, SHORT $COIN ????

— Kenobi (@OG_Kenobi_Hello) May 11, 2023

Also contributing, Twitter account Pauly, demanded an apology from Coinbase.

I GOT YOU A CAKE TO CELEBRATE @brian_armstrong. ????????????@coinbase@jconorgrogan@iampaulgrewal$PEPE DEMANDS AN OFFICIAL PUBLIC APOLOGY.

YOUR STOCK DROPPED $400 MILLION TODAY. ????

FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT.

WE DARE YOU.#DELETECOINBASE ???? pic.twitter.com/BL5sTybCNc

— PAULY (@Pauly0x) May 11, 2023

Another account, Autism Capital, criticized Coinbase for passing “mixed messages.”

Coinbase is refusing to list the PEPE coin, claiming it’s a hate symbol of the alt right. This is the same company notorious for listing absolute dogshit tokens all of 2020-2022.

But yet at the same time, they do based things like fight the SEC.

We keep getting mixed messages

— Autism Capital ???? (@AutismCapital) May 11, 2023

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