This week, Coinbase caused a stir by labeling Pepe the Frog, the memecoin’s avatar, as a hate symbol associated with the alt-right. In a newsletter sent to Coinbase members on May 10, the company highlighted the recent rise in popularity of $PEPE. However, a section that has since been removed referred to Pepe’s controversial past.
The email’s description of the frog meme made reference to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) classification of Pepe as a hate symbol in 2016 due to its adoption by alt-right organizations. Nonetheless, given Pepe’s extensive history in the crypto and NFT industries, members of the $PEPE community view this as a somewhat insensitive misrepresentation of the character.
Matt Furie, Pepe’s creator, has worked to disassociate the frog from any negative connotations, despite the fact that the character may have been associated with and used by right-wing hate groups in the past. Furie even launched the #SavePepe campaign in collaboration with the ADL to reclaim the icon. Contrary to Coinbase’s portrayal of Pepe, members of the $PEPE community pointed out that Furie has utilized his Pepe IP on the blockchain as a major player in the NFT industry for years.
Now that the Twitter hashtag “#DeleteCoinbase” is trending, calls to boycott Coinbase have emerged.
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As evidenced by Kenobi’s tweet, the controversy surrounding Coinbase’s designation of Pepe the Frog as a hate symbol has caused many $PEPE traders to abandon the well-known exchange in favor of its competitor, Gemini. Despite the fact that $PEPE was only listed on Gemini one day prior to the Coinbase email, the exchange has already seen an influx of more than two trillion $PEPE, according to some accounts.
The ongoing debate appears to be more about the responsibilities of exchanges and other major platforms in ethically navigating discussions surrounding cultural icons than about whether Coinbase did anything wrong. As a result of Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, apologizing on behalf of his organization during the initial email-driven discussion. Grewal had emphasized the importance of public discourse in fostering collaboration in the past.
As this catastrophe unfolds, #DeleteCoinbase has been highlighted by the fact that $PEPE’s price has begun to decline due to Coinbase’s comments. Despite the emergence of a number of new nearby currencies, the well-known token continues to lead the “memecoin season” charge. However, according to CoinGecko, the price has decreased by approximately 15% over the past 24 hours.
Content Source: nftnow.com
