The ceaseless and cynical pumping of tokens devoid of value is an existential threat to Ethereum’s reputation. This memecoin culture is populated by the chronically clout-addled people in the crypto industry who exist in the Influencer Pit of Despair. Paul Dylan-Ennis, a columnist and lecturer in the College of Business, University College Dublin, describes this as a deep, dark hole where grifter influencers clamber over one another to rob the nearest retail tourist.
The memecoin grift is a fundamental paradox of Ethereum’s open-source network. It contributes to the idea that blockchain is merely about speculation and stipulates that the only option in life is to hustle fast enough and hope you don’t end up as fodder for a CoffeeZilla video. The latest trend is painfully banal, with influencer grifters asking people to send ether (ETH) to an Ethereum address with the explicit promise of no return.
To address this issue, the industry needs to find a way to collectively discourage valueless profit seeking. This could be done by creating a Citizen’s Assembly, where various stakeholders in Ethereum meet to discuss important concerns and encourage people away from degen into regen with active efforts. This would introduce social matters as important as technical ones and encourage a sense of responsibility over the protocol across the community spectrum.