30s Summary
Phillip Banks, creator of the “Chill Guy” meme, has copyrighted the character, threatening profit-related usage with takedown notices. This threatens the CHILLGUY token, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency which sparked a viral trend on social media, including amongst non-crypto users. The CHILLGUY token surged over 1,000% in a day to a $500 million market cap, but significant drop has occurred due to profit-taking and Banks’ legal threat. Some crypto traders joked about paying Banks to keep the token alive. The case highlights the volatile nature of meme coins, often driven more by sentiment than a robust community base.
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Phillip Banks, the man behind the “Chill Guy” meme, announced he’s put a copyright on the character and stated he will send takedown notices for any use of it for profit. Crypto community bigwigs have jokingly reacted, suggesting Banks accepts tokens or money through a Solana address.
The massive popularity of the CHILLGUY token reportedly came from its wide spread on TikTok. People on the platform, even non-crypto users, were discussing how to purchase it – this led to a trend where people would search for new viral tokens on social media.
Chillguy’s 100,000 token holders are far from chill about this situation. Banks is threatening to issue takedown notices for profit-related use of the character he created. This viral meme token caught Crypto Twitter’s attention when it skyrocketed over 1,000% in a single day with the market cap peaking at $500 million.
Notable Crypto Twitter traders are asking Banks to provide a Solana address where they can send money or tokens. Their hope is this will help keep the fun times rolling. The unknown creator of the CHILLGUY token saw a nearly 50% drop in the token’s value from its Wednesday peak due to profit-taking, exacerbated by Banks’ legal threats.
The Chillguy meme portrays a character not perturbed by life’s challenges. It’s managed to intrigue brands and even El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. This interest in Chillguy has spurred narratives around the token, catching the attention of “normies”, non-crypto users.
Normies, especially on TikTok, were supposedly making videos about how to buy the token and its future gains potential. This led to a narrative of searching TikTok for new potential crypto picks. Traders hoped to find tokens going viral among these normies for short-term trading.
It’s important to note that these “meme coins” often rise rapidly due to speculation, community buzz, and social media trends. But they’re also highly volatile, and the prices are more driven by sentiment and marketing than by a solid community base. These trends usually don’t last long and are prone to rapid declines once the excitement subsides. The search for new memes almost always leaves investors who bought into the narrative holding near-worthless bags.