Cryptocurrencies are booming right now. “Meme” coins like Dogecoin are trending. A company now wants to establish a cryptocurrency inspired by Pikachu from Pokémon, but the fans of Pokémon are already annoyed by this. They hope Nintendo will sue the creators of the cryptocurrency.
These are “Meme” coins: For several months, the so-called “meme stocks” have been known, which are well-established stocks that are suddenly hyped especially through social media by retail investors.
In forums like Reddit or on social media like Twitter, these stocks are enthusiastically promoted by fans, even though the stocks are actually in a downward trend.
Users create “memes” about these stocks to encourage each other to buy and hold the stocks, so that the price of these stocks rises. Some of the well-known meme stocks in recent months include the video game retailer GameStop, cinema operator AMC, or Blackberry.
They are stocks that in some way are close to the gamer community.
The “cryptocurrency” version of these “meme stocks” are the meme coins. The most famous “meme coin” is Dogecoin. Dogecoin started in 2013 as a joke to mock cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but has since exploded in value.
Cryptocurrency Pika is strongly inspired by Pokémon
This is now the “Pika Crypto”: The new cryptocurrency “Pika Crypto” is clearly inspired by “Pikachu” from Pokémon.
On Twitter, they communicate that they want to “electrify” their way into the top 3 of meme coins. The goal is that the value of one Pika multiplies by 100 as quickly as possible.
At the moment, the price is €0.0000000496 (via coinmarketcap).
The idea of the currency is that there are supposed to be several evolutionary stages. Anyone with 1000 Pika is supposed to be able to evolve to “one Thunder”. This idea is also clearly inspired by Pokémon, just like the idea that one can buy special booster packs.
Overall, the “Pika” is heavily inspired by Pokémon, without the operators holding any rights to the brand.
Even on the official page, there are no indications of Pikachu, but the social media channels of the account are filled with references and images of the most well-known Pokémon, even though they avoid using the word “Pikachu” and only talk about Pika.
Some Pokémon fans hope: Nintendo puts an end to this quickly
This is the discussion: Under a tweet from a Pokémon influencer who introduces the concept of “Pika”, Pokémon fans are discussing animatedly (via twitter).
- One says: “People thought the latest main games were the lowest point of the fandom. No, this is it.”
- “I never wanted anything to flop or be shut down by the legal team… until now.”
- Others accuse the developers of the coin of wanting to make quick money at the expense of the positive Pokémon community.
In contrast, advocates and supporters of the coin say: The team ensured that they cannot be sued by Nintendo. This is about Pika, it’s just an animal (a pika) and has nothing to do with Nintendo.
Additionally, they point to a charitable aspect behind the Pika coin; after all, 0.25% goes to a “charity wallet” during a transformation into a higher coin.
This is what it’s about: Cryptocurrencies are close to the gaming community: Some influencers recognized the trend early on, which conservative investors long mocked. They invested money and achieved enormous profits over the years.
A cryptocurrency like Pika now wants to capitalize on this trend with strong gamification. However, as the reactions of Pokémon fans show, not everyone is thrilled about this new trend. For many Pokémon fans, it’s apparently the first time they wish Nintendo would sue a project and shut it down.
Nintendo is known for taking action against fan projects, but Pokémon fans rarely explicitly wished for that.
Cryptocurrencies divide the community
- For some, this is a great trend that exists independently of normal money, which can be printed at will. Cryptocurrencies are therefore inflation-proof and not under state control.
- Other advocates look at the enormous growth rates of successful cryptocurrencies and hope for huge profits. They want to multiply their money tenfold or even a hundredfold when they discover the “next big cryptocurrency” early on.
- For skeptics, cryptocurrencies are essentially a modern pyramid scheme like a chain letter: those at the beginning of such a chain letter can benefit enormously. Those who enter late have essentially already lost.
- And for others, it’s a thing that causes enormous environmental damage, a bubble that will soon burst, or nothing more than gambling.
We recently talked about a streamer on MeinMMO who invested a lot of money in cryptocurrencies:
Twitch streamer loses $8 million, screams at viewers to advise him against gambling
