This Meme Is Not Funny Anymore

GM Readers!📪 It's BitDegree Insider, and let's fire up that Web3 grill.

⭐️Today's selection:

• 👋Adiós, Pepe?
• 🛒Update On Do Kwon
• 🧩️Thursday Quiz
• 👌Selected Meme of The Day
• 📰Bite-Sized News

HYPE IS OVER (?)

So, this week's spotlight was reserved for PEPE, the memecoin.

The coin took a leap straight into the center of the crypto agora.

But... Jokes get old, and they become not funny anymore.

Looks like the irony, that has been fueling PEPE's momentum, is fading away.

In just a matter of days, the coin went through a severe plunge in its market capitalization.

And by that, we mean that the token's value saw a sharp 62% decline.

At the time of writing, the coin's value sits around $0.00000159, while just recently, it had reached $0.00000431 (as per BitDegree data).

Of course, this doesn't mean that it's game over for the coin.

Others view plunging prices as an opportunity to acquire massive amounts of the token with a discount.

On-chain analytics recently revealed that at least three major crypto whales did exactly that.

The amounts that they acquired were: 1.4 trillion ($2.76M); 424 billion ($864K); and 212 billion ($429K) PEPE tokens.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the token is going through a rapid weight loss, in terms of changes in its market cap.

In just a matter of days, it dropped from $1.82 billion on May 6th to almost $620 million at the present moment.

And... There's more.

Coinbase Labels PEPE a "Hate Symbol"

Yes, you've read that right.

PEPE, after all, is based on the frog that has some... negative connotations, to say the least.

So, apparently, in their own newsletter, Coinbase quoted the Anti-Defamation League's 2016 decision to add a frog-themed meme among online hate symbols.

And this did not land well, among those, who disagree with this idea.

Here's a screenshot of the newsletter's part that got many really livid:

As a result, the hashtag #deletecoinbase started trending, and many users began publicly proclaiming that they will be leaving Coinbase and opting for their competitors instead.

Despite the heated response from the community, it didn't look like a dialogue is about to take place.

When asked for additional comments, a Coinbase spokesperson claimed that they had "nothing further to add."

So here you go. So much fuzz because of a... frog.

TL;DR: PEPE, the memecoin, saw its total market evaluation drop from $1.82 billion on May 6th to almost $620 million at the present moment. Coinbase, the centralized exchange, labeled the token a 'hate symbol,' and received a ferocious response from the community which, then, got the hashtag #deletecoinbase trending.

DO KWON MOMENT

Well, it's time to see how is everyone's favorite crypto fugitive doing. We're talking about Do Kwon, the infamous mind behind the collapsed Terra project.

So, as you may recall, not long ago he was arrested in Montenegro. But, since then, things got more intense for the boss of stablecoins.

Among latest developments, the main one is this:

South Korean authorities froze Do Kwon's assets, including his luxurious apartment complex, cars, and bank accounts.

These assets amount to $176 million, and, there's almost no doubt, that more will be discovered later.

So, currently Kwon is being pursued by both South Korean and US officials.

He will have to prove himself not guilty of illegally converting funds from Luna from Bitcoin (South Korean authorities have already traced around $314.2 million in unlawful assets).

There are more accusations, such as document forgery. But the list will, most probably, expand.

Well, you reap what you sow.

TL;DR: South Korean authorities froze Do Kwon's assets, including his luxurious apartment complex, cars, and bank accounts.

THURSDAY QUIZ

Memes. Coins. Memecoins.

Let's test your knowledge about them.

SELECTED MEME OF THE DAY

BITE-SIZED NEWS

• Elon Musk's Tweet Sends Milady Non-Fungible Token Floor Prices Skyrocketing. Musk showin' off his power.
• Man in Morocco Receives Jail Time for Purchasing Luxury Car with Bitcoin. The man should get out of prison at some point in June.
• China Launches the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center in Beijing. The new blockchain center aims to train half a million DLT experts.