Extreme ideology tokens increase amid Kanye West’s Swasticoin launch

The cryptocurrency industry has been the subject of debate in the last few weeks after the increase in tokens promoting extremist ideologies. While the sector has been seen as a place where community-led initiatives thrive, there have been questions surrounding the limits of decentralization that it needs.

The debate is coming at a time when popular sensation Kanye West is planning to launch his token called Swasticoin. The controversial figure announced the launch of the token amid several controversial posts on the blogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

Kanye West’s recent statements included several antisemitic remarks targeting the Jewish community, triggering criticism and marking a shift from his criticism of celebrities who prey on their followers by launching rug pull tokens.

Kanye West’s Swasticoin token triggers troubling trends

On Saturday, Kanye West made a post suggesting that he was launching a token that he said was open to friends, family, and the Jewish people. “I’m going to open the CA [contract address] for my Swasticoin to Jewish people and my friends and family first,” Kanye West said.

Alongside the announcement, he mentioned that he was trying to contact former Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as he seeks guidance on blockchain networks.

The post sparked outrage on social media, unearthing a troubling trend that most people have ignored in the crypto industry for a long time. While Kanye West’s proposition might look like a standalone case, it is not isolated.

In the past year, there has been an influx of racist and offensive tokens that have launched in the crypto market. The wave of these launches has spurred debates on the need for moderation in the decentralized space. Some of these tokens use racial slurs or offensive imagery to go viral and attract people who want to make money regardless of what the project represents.

For instance, a month ago, an individual created the “Hitler Musk” token on Pump.fun. The token was created after Tesla billionaire Elon Musk did the one-arm straight salute at the inauguration of United States President Donald Trump. While Musk has played down the impact of the arm raise, observers have tagged it as a Nazi salute.

Before then, a token called “HITLER” was created in 2021, appearing on exchanges before being delisted. Despite the offensive nature of these tokens and calls for developers to stop creating these tokens, it looks like the decentralized nature of blockchain will continually be exploited.

While Kanye West’s token, which could be named YZY instead of Swasticoin can be used to evade restrictions on his Yeezy store on Shopify, there are reports that he plans to keep 70% of the token’s supply, fuelling speculation that he is concerned about the financial gain.

While there are limited movements on the outside, there is a consensus that he is cooking up something behind the scenes. However, it is unclear if his token launch will take place next week as he has suggested on X. However, his latest “Time to launch my own blockchain” post on X shows that he is seriously considering the possibility.

Regulators urged to address the rise of extreme coins

As the racist and other offensive tokens continue to increase, there have been moves taken in the crypto industry to curb the trend. Users have also urged regulators to do something about the surge, noting that they could mandate platforms to screen tokens before they are listed. Also, Solana Foundation’s head of strategy, Austin Federa has suggested that there could be some sort of in-app filtering to reduce the tokens.

According to Federa, this move will help applications and decentralized platforms screen out these types of tokens using either their imagery or names. However, there are still challenges due to the system being decentralized. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also discussed the rise of these kinds of tokens, calling on the crypto community to come up with high-quality projects.

In March 2024, Buterin mentioned the disturbing trend of growing speculative tokens, noting that most provide only short-term hype with little utility. He talked about some meme coins on Solana, noting that they were openly racist, something that he has condemned. He also added that he has no enthusiasm for most of these projects because they drive hype and end up being rug-pulled.

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