When it comes to celebrity meme coins, don’t expect to see Kevin O’Leary’s name pop up anytime soon, either as an issuer or an investor.
“This is the definition of a shitcoin,” said the Canadian entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” star. Decrypt in an interview. “Why should I put this in a portfolio?”
O’Leary said that nearly 20% of his investments are currently in cryptocurrency, split between assets such as Bitcoin and companies like stablecoin issuer Circle. Still, the influential investor described celebrity meme coins as an emerging crypto trend that doesn’t fit his framework.
“What value does this have to me in the long term?” O’Leary pondered the category. “What do they actually bring to the table that has value other than celebrity?”
Andrew Tate, Iggy AzaleaAnd Small pump are among the myriad of celebrities who have touted their respective coins on social media this year. Over the past month, a majority of those coins have cratered in value as enthusiasm for space shows signs of cooling.
Of 30 celebrity meme coins launched recently, data compiled by SlorgHead of Business Development at Solana Exchange Jupiter and self-proclaimed crypto strategist, show an average 94% drop in value.
“I am above all an investor”
In general, O’Leary has said he likes to “eat his own cooking.” Between Bitcoin, gold, and, more recently, sports trading cards, that means the investments O’Leary talks about are ones he buys himself.
“I’m an investor first and foremost,” O’Leary said. “I like to think that to the extent that people are watching what I do, I’m giving them valuable advice.”
Overall, meme coins should be considered a form of gambling or entertainment, O’Leary said. Decrypt. The only one he has is Dogecoinhe added, with a small amount of the dog-themed asset stashed in a Robinhood account.
“It doesn’t go into the investment portfolio,” O’Leary said. “It’s like going to Las Vegas and saying, ‘I’m going to take out $500 tonight, I’m going to play the tables, and after I lose it all, I’m going to consider it an entertainment cost.'”
With this in mind, the Solana Strip has been booming lately, thanks to protocols such as pump.funthat allows anyone to launch a meme coin for dollars worth of cryptocurrency. It has raised $28 million in fees over the past month, the most of any Solana-protocol based on, according to Llama Challenge.
Even meme coin detractors are finding ways to profit from them. Last week, the rebranded Solana protocol Save took aim at the recent flood of meme coins, claiming they are “harming the community” through rug-runs and money-stealing, and doing so quickly announced the dumpy.fun protocolwhere users can shorten meme pieces launched using pump.fun.
For his part, O’Leary said he stays away from the celebrity meme business. And no matter how many times people turn to Pump.Fun.
“I’ve been approached many times by many different groups about the ‘Mr. Wonderful’ token,” he said. “Would I buy my own coin and say that there’s financial merit to that coin because it has the name ‘Mr. Wonderful’ on it? I don’t think so.”
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