Key Takeaways
- Following the shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, dozens of memecoins bearing his name have been launched on Pump.Fun.
- One of them, RIP CHARLIE KIRK (CHARLIE), briefly amassed a market cap of over $5 million.
- The incident recalls other viral Pump.Fun tokens that reference morbid news stories.
It’s a story almost as old as crypto. A memecoin that refers to a well-known organization, event or celebrity is thrust into the limelight when they make headlines, regardless of whether the news is good or bad.
The inevitable token pumps that follow rarely last more than a few hours, as was the case on Wednesday, when a Pump.Fun token referencing the death of Charlie Kirk amassed a market cap of around $5.4 million, only to crash back down to earth just as quickly.
RIP CHARLIE KIRK—The Latest Viral Memecoin on Pump.Fun
As the news spread that right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk had been shot at a university campus on Wednesday, September 10, it didn’t take long for the degen community to do what it does best.
Within hours of Kirk’s assassination, RIP CHARLIE KIRK was launched on Pump.Fun with the ticker CHARLIE.
Other tokens intended to ride a wave of morbid interest include RIP CHARLIE KIRK (KIRK), Rest in Peace Charlie Kirk (RIP), and Charlie Kirk Shooter Weapon (Mauser), a reference to the Mauser rifle the FBI believes was used to kill Kirk.
At the time of writing, 31 memecoins referencing Kirk’s death had been launched on Pump.Fun since the incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon. Preexisting Charlie Kirk tokens also saw some renewed interest.
However, only CHARLIE attained the virality memecoin traders seek. At its height, the token’s market cap climbed to over $5 million and it generated an hourly trading volume in excess of $3 million.
Pump.Fun’s Macabre Memecoins
The latest morbid memecoin on Pump.Fun recalls similar tokens that have briefly surged off the back of dark news stories.
Earlier in September, Justice for Iryna (IRYNA) soared to a market cap of $8.45 million following the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail system in August.
Another example is the case of Arnold Haro, more commonly known by his internet alias, @mistafuccyou.
When Haro livestreamed his own death by Russian roulette in February, his final request before pulling the trigger was: “I f**king die, make it a memecoin.”
Pump.Fun users promptly obliged the unsettled young man, and a memecoin bearing his name briefly reached a market cap of $2.1 million.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
