The $PEPE community reacts to the “Hate Symbol” label
The Alpha:
- Coinbase faces backlash for labeling Pepe the frog, the mascot of the $PEPE memecoin, as a hate symbol associated with the alt-right.
- A newsletter sent out via email to Coinbase customers sparked outrage in the $PEPE community, leading to calls for Web3 to boycott the exchange and “#DeleteCoinbase” to start trending on Twitter.
- Some users are now migrating their $PEPE holdings to Gemini as the price of the popular memecoin continues to fall.
Dive Deeper:
Coinbase sparked controversy this week by labeling Pepe the frog, the mascot of the $PEPE memecoin, as a hate symbol associated with the alt-right. In a newsletter sent out to Coinbase subscribers on May 10, the company acknowledged the recent rise in popularity of $PEPE, but pointed to Pepe’s controversial history in a now-deleted section.
The email’s characterization of the frog meme referenced the 2016 designation of Pepe as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) due to its adoption by alt-right groups. Nevertheless, members of the $PEPE community feel that this is one somewhat tone deaf misrepresentation of Pepe, considering the character’s long history within the crypto and NFT space.
Although Pepe may have previously been associated with and co-opted by right-wing hate groups, the frog’s creator, Matt Fury, has tried to distance the character from any sinister connotations. To do so, Furie even formed the #SavePepe campaign in partnership with the ADL in an effort to reclaim the symbol. Furthermore, $PEPE community members noted that Coinbase’s characterization of Pepe seem to ignore the fact that Furie has leveraged its Pepe IP on the blockchain as a prominent part of the NFT space for years.
Now calls for a boycott of Coinbase have emerged, with the hashtag “#DeleteCoinbase” trending on Twitter.
What will be next
As illustrated by Kenobi’s tweet above, the controversy surrounding Coinbase’s labeling of Pepe the Frog as a hate symbol has led many avid $PEPE traders to distance themselves from the popular exchange in favor of competitor Gemini. Although $PEPE was only listed on Gemini a day before The Coinbase email was sent out by some reportsthe exchange has already seen an inflow of over two trillion $PEPE.
Apparently, the ongoing controversy is not just about whether Coinbase is wrong, but rather about the responsibility of exchanges and other prominent platforms in ethically navigating discourse around cultural symbols. Because in the middle of the conversation inspired by the first email, Coinbase’s legal director, Paul Grewal, who previously emphasized the importance of public discourse in promoting cooperation, provided an apology on behalf of the company’s decision.
As this debacle continues to unfold, #DeleteCoinbase has been underscored by the fact that, in the wake of Coinbase’s criticism, the price of $PEPE has begun to decline. Although the popular token has continued to lead the “memecoin season” charge as many other adjacent currencies emerge, it has fallen by around 15 percent in just the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
