Who is creating these ugly Memes?
Original Article Title: The ugly memes driving crypto sales
Original Article Author: Adam Alexsic, Financial Times
Translation: Peggy, BlockBeats
Editor's Note: When AI, algorithmic recommendation, and crypto speculation are combined, internet memes are systematically "manufactured" to harvest attention and money.
This article starts with a series of viral offensive content on social platforms, revealing how these seemingly absurd trends serve the dissemination logic of crypto scams. It reminds us that when popularity is no longer organically generated but designed to profit, the internet is becoming more chaotic and dangerous.
Below is the original article:
The author of this article, known online as Etymology Nerd, is the author of the book "Algospeak: How Social Media is Reshaping Language."
This year, an unsettling and disturbing new aspect has emerged on Instagram Reels: offensive memes are being systematically created to promote cryptocurrency scams—and almost no one is seriously trying to remove them.
Since January this year, a group of bizarre, distorted characters has begun to spread on this social platform. This phenomenon's emergence is closely related to the widespread availability of AI tools and the relaxed hate speech regulation on the Meta platform.
These include "George Droyd," a cyborg "reincarnation image" modeled after George Floyd created in April this year to promote a cryptocurrency called $FLOYDAI; and "Kirkinator," born in September shortly after political commentator Charlie Kirk's death, used to hype the $KIRKINATOR token. Additionally, there are a series of recurring "sidekick" images such as "Epstron" and "Diddytron," respectively alluding to Jeffrey Epstein and rapper Sean Combs (aka Diddy).
These accounts exist in the same narrative universe, often gaining traffic by catering to racist and anti-Semitic stereotypes, accumulating millions of views. The short videos frequently feature discriminatory language and repeatedly revolve around the subplot of so-called "racial purification."
The sole purpose of this shocking content is to generate interaction and engagement. The ultimate goal is to direct public attention to so-called "meme coins," a type of cryptocurrency that theoretically rises in value as memes spread. Early meme coins (like $DOGE) mostly leveraged existing internet culture, while derivative images like George Droyd and its counterparts are entirely artificial creations by crypto speculators.
This scheme typically begins with pump.fun, a platform that allows users to easily register and trade digital tokens. Once a developer creates a new token, they share it in a trusted Telegram group or X community, where investors brainstorm ways to artificially boost attention for the related meme, known as "mindshare." They then use AI to generate provocative videos, hoping to make the meme spread virally and attract "normies" — those unfamiliar with meme coin culture but who may be drawn in as retail investors. After the price of the coin rises, the initial core group will choose to "rug pull," selling off their holdings, cashing out, and exiting with profits.
In reality, the actual people buying into these tokens are often only a few thousand. However, because the barrier to creating cryptocurrency and releasing AI-generated content is extremely low, coin creators can easily replay this cycle, profiting by "manufacturing a cultural phenomenon."
Simultaneously, these memes often start to "grow organically." When other creators recognize their viral potential, they imitate and reproduce them for money or online clout. The characters "Kirkinator" and "George Droyd" have been repeatedly used by various internet personalities unrelated to the original token creators.
Yet, with each reiteration, crypto hustlers still benefit. For instance, in October, a tweet about Kirkinator gained 8 million views, causing the $KIRKINATOR coin price to spike fivefold, only to fall back in the following days. For those investors who sold at its peak, the profit was based on millions of X users watching a video — where the content was "George Droyd getting killed by Kirkinator after stealing Epstein files."
Unfortunately, the more sensational the video, the easier it is to spread virally. Violent, offensive imagery can attract more comments and longer watch times, both of which algorithms reward. Coin creators have learned to exploit this mechanism for personal gain. Even Instagram or X users who are unaware of these cryptocurrencies may find themselves repeatedly exposed to this highly disturbing clickbait content.
We are being drawn into a vortex: loosely regulated cryptocurrency sites, easily accessible AI tools, and social platforms that allow the proliferation of offensive memes, all stacked on top of each other.
As a researcher of internet language evolution, I am deeply troubled by this: online trends are being artificially created, with the sole purpose of manipulating us. We can no longer be certain that memes are "naturally occurring" — they may at any time be part of some profit-driven chain.
Even if a meme is not directly created by a crypto hustler, it will almost always be co-opted by them almost immediately. Every new cultural reference is quickly tokenized on pump.fun and artificially pumped up, all to make some people profit from it.
The end result is that we are all becoming more disconnected from reality. More and more memes are invented or amplified, forcing netizens to constantly question what they can really believe; and continued exposure to this toxic discourse environment makes it appear more "acceptable." The only way out is to fight to reclaim the internet and stop those trying to poison it.
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