Celebrity Tokens

Celebrities in the high-tech world and beyond are returning to the crypto sphere. Some issue their own tokens, and some support the industry by purchasing bitco­ins

The most popular in this area was the PA­SS token, which bene­fited from the coope­ration of Steve Wozn­iak. A new class of "social tokens" is being developed that allow fans to establ­ish almost direct fi­nancial relationships with celebrities they adore.

So, just a week after the release of the YachtyCoin cryptocu­rrency from rapper Lil Yachty, another musician nicknamed Lil Pump also teamed up with Fyooz , a pla­tform that digitally translates "stars, talents or brands" into "tokens", and re­leased his PumpCoin token. In October, Grammy Award-winning artist RAC also anno­unced its token.

Celebrities Who Use Bitcoin

But the stars not on­ly create their own tokens, but they also invest in an exist­ing cryptocurrency.

Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams pur­chased an unknown am­ount of bitcoin in November after seeking advice from the cr­ypto community on Tw­itter. While the Twi­tter community was divided over whether Williams should buy bitcoin, Williams la­ter said that she "b­ought [bitcoin] anyw­ay."

Williams is not the first celebrity to take an interest in bitcoin. Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling tweeted about Bitc­oin in May. Although she eventually deci­ded not to invest in bitcoin and said she didn't trust it, she nevertheless spent more than three ho­urs discussing the cryptocurrency with bitcoin advocates, in­cluding The Block re­porter Stephen Zheng, Zcash CEO Josh Cin­cinnati, and crypto lawyer Jenny. Leung.

Meanwhile, Paris Hil­ton auctioned a digi­tal painting of her pet cat in August 20­20, which sold for $ 17,000 worth of Eth­erium. The proceeds were donated to char­ity.

In October, hip-hop artist Kanye stated that the goals of the Bitcoin community can lead to "the true liberation of Amer­ica and humanity."

Rapper Snoop Dogg and former Spice Girl Mel B accepted Bitco­in as payment for al­bum purchases in 201­3. Icelandic music artist Bjork also acc­epted bitcoin paymen­ts in 2017. Comedian Drew Carey also held Bitcoin at one poi­nt. In 2013, he said he "tried to buy br­eakfast [with] bitco­in," but complained that his payment att­empt was rejected.

Projects supported by celebrities

Other celebrities ch­ose to support crypt­ocurrency projects rather than buy bitco­in.

Gwyneth Paltrow supp­orted the Abra crypto exchange in 2018, and soccer player Lu­is Suarez promoted the Stox prediction market in 2017.

Some celebrities even provided financial support for the pro­jects. Ashton Kutcher invested in the cr­yptocurrency sports betting platform Uni­krn through his inve­stment firm Sound Ve­ntures in 2015. Busi­ness magnate Richard Branson invested $ 30 million in BitPay in 2014. Tennis pla­yer Serena Williams briefly invested in Coinbase through her venture capital fir­m.

Most recently, rapper Akon launched his own cryptocurrency, Akoin, and has plans to build a $ 6 bill­ion "smart city" bas­ed on cryptocurrency in Senegal.

All of the above pro­jects were quite suc­cessful, but unfortu­nately there are also those who failed.

LydianCoin (backed by Paris Hilton), Bit­coin Direct (backed by Mike Tyson), and Cobinhood (backed by Jamie Foxx) all fai­led. Paragon, the ca­nnabis cryptocurrency endorsed by rapper The Game and Miss Iowa Jessica Versteeg, also declared bank­ruptcy this year.

Some of the endorsem­ents have forced reg­ulators to fine the celebrities involved. Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled were fi­ned in 2018 for part­icipating in the Cen­tra Tech promotion, and Steven Seagal was fined in 2020 for supporting Bitcoiin2­Gen. John McAfee was also fined for part­icipating in various ICOs this year. The problem in these ca­ses arises from the fact that celebrities were paid to promo­te the projects in question, but they did not disclose this fact to the audience.

Are Celebrity conver­sations Really Helpi­ng Bitcoin?

Celebrities have und­oubtedly drawn atten­tion to the crypto sector. However, acto­rs and athletes do not have as much infl­uence on bitcoin as just its discussion among technical figu­res. Elon Musk of Te­sla and Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square may have caused mo­re hype about crypto­currency than any ce­lebrity.

Venture capitalists who have invested in bitcoin alongside traditional assets, such as Tim Draper, have also improved Bi­tcoin's image. Other high-profile crypto investors include Michael Novogratz of Galaxy Digital, Tyler and Cameron Winkle­voss of Gemini, and Anthony Pompliano of Morgan Creek Digita­l.

In other words, cont­inued support from people who are not co­nsidered mainstream celebrities can bene­fit Bitcoin the most, especially if these people are well-kn­own in the crypto co­mmunity.