Idiot Coin was designed by a New York Times writer to highlight the hoopla surrounding so-called hype coins.
Hype coins, which have no inherent value or are obvious frauds, have attracted millions of individuals looking to make money. Idiot Coin was advertised by reporter David Segal as an apparent flop: “Def NOT going to the moon!” More business articles may be found on Insider’s business page.
Developers on the extremely speculative end of the cryptocurrency market offer potential investors riches with appealing-sounding assets that have little inherent value or are outright frauds in the realm of hype coins. Idiot Coin was designed by a New York Times writer to explain and explore that universe.
In a piece titled “Going for Broke in Crypto land,” reporter David Segal said, “The aim was to illustrate that generating a hype currency doesn’t need knowledge and that many are fragile and hazardous.”
Segal detailed his journey that he wanted to end with no one financially harmed. His report said dozens of hype coins are created every day by developers who operate with little oversight and draw in millions of people looking to make some quick money.” It usually ends poorly,” with most tokens becoming worthless within a couple of weeks while the developers can rake in tens of thousands of dollars or more, he wrote.
Segal, who is located in the United Kingdom, consulted two attorneys – one in London and one in the United States – about the legality of producing what sounded like security and selling it. Both said that currency makers may be sued by regulators in any nation. He said that staying out of trouble required making sure Idiot Coin was a flip. According to him, annual losses from hype coin investments run from hundreds of millions to $1 billion.
Segal finally paid $300 in fees to reach the stage where 21 million Idiot Coins were produced. The reporter collaborated with Dan Arreola, a Taiwanese guy who released a YouTube video on how to manufacture and market a “scam coin” as a warning to would-be investors. Segal also engaged a web designer to create the website Coinforidiots.com. A White Paper was posted on the site that was meant to explain the coin’s attraction.
He stated, “Mine implores investors to scram.” He paid a TikToker to promote Idiot Coin, which he accomplished by fanning phony $100 notes in an opulent parody. Segal also contributed to crypto moonshots, a Reddit thread where the new currency is announced. “I’m not going to the moon!” says the narrator. Segal penned the piece. “It’s possible I won’t get an inch off the ground!” A social media post with links to the Idiot Coin Telegram account was also part of his marketing efforts. He estimated that approximately 300 individuals from across the world attended, with some being perplexed by the gloomy tone.
“By refusing to give them wealth, I was betraying these individuals,” Segal wrote.
The larger cryptocurrency market’s surge this year drove its worth above $2 trillion, however, selloffs prompted by regulatory concerns have pulled it down to around $1.7 trillion. The most popular meme money on the market is Dogecoin, which was created in 2013 by two programmers as a parody of the cryptocurrency mania. So far this year, the price has increased by almost 4,300 percent, trading at $0.21, bringing the market value to around $27 billion.
