Unfunny emoticons that promote the sale of cryptocurrencies

Recently, a group of “fictional accounts” with bizarre styles and strange backgrounds have emerged on encrypted social platforms. These accounts often make waves in a short period of time, creating memes and storylines that quickly bring certain meme coins to the forefront of attention. Data from blockchain platforms shows that the trading volume of many related tokens surges several times within hours after these accounts become popular. However, due to the highly concentrated capital involved, prices fluctuate dramatically, only to quickly drop again. This type of “personality-driven speculation” is becoming a new tactic in the meme market. It essentially involves using storytelling and emotions to amplify liquidity, allowing pricing negotiations to take place during periods of high attention. This reminds investors once again that behind such popularity often lies a lack of real value.

Images generated by Kirkinator’s AI tool, originating from Instagram Reels.

The author, known as “Etymology Enthusiast,” wrote the book “Algorithmic Language: How Social Media Is Changing the Future of Language”.

This year, there has been a new trend on Instagram Reels: offensive memes are being created with the intention of promoting cryptocurrency scams. It seems that no one wants to remove these memes.

Since January, a series of bizarre characters have appeared on social media applications, thanks to the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools and the lax regulations regarding hate speech on the Meta platform.

其中有“乔治·德罗伊德”(George Droyd)，它是乔治·弗洛伊德的机器人化身，于四月推出，旨在推广$FLOYDAI加密货币。“柯克纳特”(Kirkinator)则是在政治评论员查理·柯克去世后于九月推出，目的是为了推广$KIRKINATOR代币。此外，还有一些反复出现的次要角色，包括“埃普斯特隆”(Epstron)和“迪迪特隆”(Diddytron)——分别是对杰弗里·爱泼斯坦和说唱歌手肖恩·康姆斯(又名吹牛老爹)的戏仿。

这些账号共享同一叙事宇宙，凭借种族主义和反犹太主义的陈词滥调，获得了数百万的点击量。这些短视频频繁使用歧视性语言，并反复出现种族净化的情节。

这些耸人听闻的内容旨在吸引用户参与。其最终目的是吸引人们关注新的“模因币”——这种加密货币表面上会在模因传播时增值。虽然像狗狗币($DOGE)这样的早期模因币是利用现有模因获利的，但乔治·德罗伊德(George Droyd)的衍生币及其同类币种是由加密货币投机者创造的。

All of this scam started on the Pump.Fun platform, which allowed users to easily register and trade digital currencies. Once developers created a new cryptocurrency, they would share it through trusted Telegram groups or on social media platforms like X. Investors then tried every means possible to generate attention for these “memes,” essentially creating “public opinion shares.” They then used artificial intelligence to create inflammatory videos, hoping to spread their memes rapidly and make their cryptocurrency popular among ordinary investors who had little knowledge of this new currency culture and were not very cautious. When the value of the currency increased, the original manipulators would “withdraw their investments,” selling their cryptocurrencies and making profits. In reality, perhaps only a few thousand people would actually buy these cryptocurrencies. However, thanks to the ease of creating cryptocurrencies and posting artificial intelligence-generated content, those who created these cryptocurrencies could easily manipulate the situation by creating cultural phenomena. Meanwhile, these memes gradually developed their own momentum. Once other creators noticed their potential for viral spread, they would copy them for their own benefit or to increase their online influence. Characters like “Kirkinator” and “George Droyd” were even used by influencers who had nothing to do with the original creators of these memes.

However, with each round of hype, crypto speculators continue to make profits. For example, in October, after a tweet about Kirkinator reached 8 million views, the price of $KIRKINATOR tokens skyrocketed by five times. However, a few days later, the price dropped again. For those investors who sold at high prices, their profits came from millions of X users who watched a video in which “George Dreyfus” was killed after stealing Epstein’s documents from Kirkinator.

Unfortunately, the more sensational the video, the more likely it was to become popular. Violent and offensive images can attract more comments and longer viewing durations, and algorithms reward such content. The creators of cryptocurrencies have learned to exploit this pattern to their advantage. Even those who know nothing about cryptocurrencies on Instagram or other social media platforms may still be forced to endure disturbing headlines.

We are trapped in a whirlwind—on one side, there are unregulated cryptocurrency websites; on the other side, there are artificial intelligence tools that can be easily accessed, along with social media platforms that allow the posting of offensive memes.

As an internet etymologist, I am shocked by the fact that online trends are created artificially, with the sole purpose of manipulating us. We can no longer trust the authenticity of online memes—there is now a risk that someone will try to profit from them.

Even if a certain meme wasn’t created by those who speculate on cryptocurrencies, they can still exploit it immediately. Every new meme is almost always registered on pump.fun, and its value is artificially inflated in order to benefit certain individuals.

As a result, our connection to reality becomes weaker and weaker. More and more online memes will be created or spread, forcing internet users to question what they can really trust. And the more we expose ourselves to such unpleasant rhetoric, the more it seems likely that it will become accepted as normal. The only solution is to resist and reclaim control of the Internet from those who try to poison it.