What are the “shitcoins” that are sweeping over cryptocurrencies?

• Since the rise of the doge coin, more and more WTF cryptocurrencies are created.

• Recently, the Mongoose coin (mongoose token) and Unvaxxed sperm, indexed to the semen price of unvaccinated people, entered the crypto market.

• Back on the shitcoins, literally hear tokens of shit, which are multiplying.

The crypto world is rocked by a flood of virtual currencies from m ****. The most recent: the “mongoose coin”, or mongoose token (yes, yes). In early December, an elected Californian Democrat criticized

and memes (inspired by Internet culture) during a US congressional hearing on cryptocurrencies. “The number one threat to cryptocurrency is crypto,” said Brad Sherman. Bitcoin could be replaced by ether, which could be replaced by the doge which could be replaced by hamstercoin and then there is cobracoin… What could the mongoose coin do with cryptocoin? ".

Some developers have decided to take this joke at face value.

Hours later, the mongoose coin appeared on some crypto-asset exchanges, Mashable reported on December 8.

In the same vein, antivaxes created the unvaxxed sperm (NUBTC) [translate unvaccinated sperm] in December.

Convinced that Covid-19 vaccines make them sterile, they hope to see their currency increase in value as the male and female gametes of unvaccinated people become scarce.

Everything is fine.

Anyone Can Create Cryptocurrency

"There are on the one hand the memes corners, inspired by Internet culture, and on the other, the

, which can be a scam, explains Amandine Claude, behind the empowerment project La Mineuse which aims to make cryptos accessible to women. This does not mean that all shitcoins are scams, nor are coin memes, for that matter ”. The first of its kind is the doge coin, created in 2013 in the likeness of one of the internet's most famous memes, the friendly dog ​​with questionable grammar, Doge. It boomed dramatically in 2021 after a tweet from Elon Musk, appearing in the top 10 most important cryptocurrencies.

“The difference with a 'classic' cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or ether, is that there is no project behind it,” she continues. It does not respond to any technological problem that would aim to improve a blockchain, for example. There is no added value ”. The same coin follows the same principle except that it is based on an Internet phenomenon. And, we cannot prevent this type of project from existing. “Any team of developers can create an app and issue a cryptoasset,” Martha Reyes, who heads research for the Bequant cryptocurrency exchange, told AFP in November.

“To protect yourself, you have to stay on platforms identified as Coinhouse or Coinbase, registered with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).

It gives a certain guarantee, ”advises Amandine Claude.

All these somewhat obscure assets are linked to DeFi, the acronym for decentralized finance, which offers an alternative to traditional finance.

DeFi brings together projects whose objective is to free themselves from a third party to validate transactions and anonymity is often possible.

“You don't always know who is behind, and the day they disappear, they evaporate,” she notes.

As seen with the massive Squid Coin scam, inspired by the hit Netflix series 

.

Cryptocurrencies not very recommendable

At the end of October, the Squid coin had a dizzying success in a few days. According to some estimates, the market value of this cryptocurrency was over $ 30 million, but buyers were unpleasantly surprised that they could not sell it or cash in their profits. At the beginning of November, its creators disappear from the surface of the Web as the price collapses. This type of scam is nicknamed "rug pull".

Why are we seeing so many unsavory cryptocurrencies emerging right now? The madness of the last few months around non-fungible tokens (or non-fungible tokens in French) has created a new attraction for the world of cryptos. As a reminder, NFTs are digital objects or works (photos, videos, tweet, gifs, etc.) with indisputable and inviolable identity, authenticity and traceability thanks to a certificate listed in a blockchain, most often ethereum. , whose virtual currency (ether) is also known as the second most important after bitcoin. Since March, many NFT memes have found buyers at staggering prices. One thinks in particular of the token of the gif Nyan cat, one of the most famous memes of the Web which sold more than 500,000 dollars in February.Between a renewed interest in the crypto world and a hype for memes, the ground was fertile to see these famous meme corners flourish. Too bad that in the midst of these joke-shaped assets, some serve more questionable interests. Behind its cryptocurrency, the Unvaxxed sperm seeks above all to attract new followers to its antivax community.

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• Antivaccine

• NFT

• Elon musk

• Bitcoin

• Virtual currency

• Culture

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