Pump & Dump Circus: Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan Meme Coins—Tribute or Quick Cash Grab?
Celebrity meme coins are back in the spotlight—and so are the rug pulls.
When Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan-themed tokens surge overnight, the line between fandom and financial recklessness blurs. Are these tributes to legends or just another playground for crypto’s mercenary traders?
The Meme Coin Rollercoaster
Pump-and-dump schemes aren’t new, but slapping a celebrity name on a token adds a veneer of legitimacy—until the charts nosedive. Retail investors pile in, lured by social media hype, only to watch liquidity vanish faster than a headliner’s encore.
Crypto’s Celebrity Problem
Stars distance themselves post-launch, leaving bagholders screaming ‘sellout’—while devs cash out. It’s the same old song: hype, dump, repeat. And yet, the cycle continues, because nothing fuels FOMO like a famous face (even if they had zero involvement).
A Cynic’s Take
Wall Street gets accused of exploitation, but crypto’s unregulated meme economy turns it into an art form. At least hedge funds wait a quarter before dumping their bags.
More Memes Popping up
Earlier this week, the world lost two legends of music and show business: the vocalist of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, and the WWE Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan. While fans across the globe paid tribute to their legacy, some members of the crypto community used the opportunity to launch speculative tokens related to them.
One example is the Solana-based meme coin HULKAMANIA (HULK) which debuted on July 24 and at one point experienced a 4,700% price surge. Currently, the asset trades at around $0.0003074 (according to data aggregator DEXTools), representing a 1,300% increase on a daily scale.
Prior to that, Ozzy The Otter (OZZY) – a meme coin related to the “Prince of Darkness” – also witnessed substantial price swings. The valuation skyrocketed by 180% to $0.00003260 on July 22 before heading south just as dramatically mere hours later. As of this writing, it hovers around $0.00001337, or a 60% decline from the peak.
Meme coin creators often exploit the deaths of famous people, capitalizing on the surge of public interest. They create speculative tokens related to late celebrities, hoping to trigger a FOMO effect among traders, which can quickly push prices up.
People should tread carefully and research the matter thoroughly, as these coins don’t have real utility and are typically extremely volatile. Additionally, some members of the crypto community stand firmly against the launch of meme coins after famous people who have passed away, describing the MOVE as immoral and even “disgusting.”
Not the First Time
The passing of the British Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 also gave inventive participants in the crypto industry the same opportunity.
Hours after the news of her death, several speculative tokens including “Queen Elizabeth Inu,” “Queen Doge,” “God Save The Queen,” “London Bridge Is Down,” “Queen Grow,” “Rip Queen Elizabeth,” “Elizabeth II,“ and “Queen Inu II“ popped up on some decentralized blockchain ecosystems.
The prices of the aforementioned initially pumped hard but later retraced to virtually zero. Somewhat expected, the launch of the meme coins created controversy in the space. The X user ThreadGuy argued that anyone who tries to make profits from Queen Elizabeth’s death deserves to go to hell.
