Unusual issues have occurred within the meme coin area in current months. We have seen a Solana developer find yourself within the hospital with third-degree burns making an attempt to spice up his coin, purported incest used to induce merchants to pump a worth, and rappers and actuality TV stars launching their very own tokens. And that’s simply the tip of the iceberg.
1000’s of untamed tickers impressed by canine, cats, presidential candidates, and extra are rising every day, however one specifically—bluntly and considerably morbidly named “Lifeless Dad Coin“—stands out with a backstory that comes throughout as much less of a stunt than it would seem on the floor.
Pseudonymous artist NFN Kalyan, who began minting NFTs again in 2020, created the Solana meme coin Lifeless Dad Coin (DDC) in honor of his late father. The coin sits at a market cap of $1.2 million on the time of writing, after reaching an all-time excessive of $4.1 million in July.
You will have come throughout one of many numerous memes that includes “Lifeless Dad” photoshopped into numerous popular culture references, web tendencies, and extra. Now he’s a meme coin too.
since then an enormous quantity of my artwork has been devoted to the results of shedding him. i did a whole collection of big work titled “requiem for my father”. right here is one instance. pic.twitter.com/kerR2Tp8AK
— NFN Kalyan (@nfnkalyan) July 4, 2024
“I believe proper off the bat, persons are drawn in by the truth that it’s ridiculous. It is a ridiculous thought, and I get that,” NFN Kalyan instructed Decrypt. “However there may be one other layer to issues, which is extra than simply that that is stunning, foolish, or hilarious. There’s one thing else to it.”
NFN Kalyan is referring to the real relationship he had together with his dad, which he hopes to honor—not mock—in a approach that he believes his father would have appreciated.
In August 2020, NFN Kalyan mentioned that his father went for a stroll and suffered a coronary heart assault, collapsing and passing away immediately. The loss deeply impacted him, he wrote in a Twitter thread alongside the coin launch, resulting in months of intense grieving throughout which he typically cried in his sleep.
He expressed that grief via artwork, together with the “Requiem for My Father” collection and a 1-of-1 picture NFT of his father’s physique, which pay tribute to his father’s reminiscence and discover the affect of his loss.
dad don’t miss pic.twitter.com/25xAj0rEJq
— Lifeless Dad Coin (@DeadDadCoin) August 3, 2024
For the single-edition picture NFT of his father’s physique, he deleted the picture from his telephone after minting it, permitting another person to personal what he considers the one official copy. NFN Kalyan emphasizes the shared human expertise behind his artwork.
“After I say my dad is lifeless and I’ve a sense about it, there’s a human empathy,” he tweeted. “It’s a shared human expertise. This isn’t a meme based mostly round a canine or a foolish drawing.”
NFN Kalyan hopes that members of the crypto group can discover a component of emotional connection via his undertaking. He additionally believes that his father would have discovered Lifeless Dad Coin hilarious and invitations everybody to contribute.
“We’re all on this collectively,” he mentioned. “Let’s make one thing that’s alive.”
NFN Kalyan focuses on the artwork and artistic aspect, whereas his co-founders assist execute the enterprise aspect. In response to the group, 11.5% of the token provide was burnt (or successfully destroyed), 6% is for advertising, and three% is saved for future bills. Information from Bubblemaps exhibits the precise breakdown of which wallets maintain probably the most provide.
Artwork and finance are inextricably intertwined, and nowhere is that clearer than within the crypto world. However whereas they could each be tokens on a blockchain, a chunk of visible artwork represented by an NFT is certain to hit folks in a different way than a token with a reputation like “Lifeless Dad Coin.”
Requested why he didn’t simply depart his tribute as a visible artwork piece, however somewhat determined to promote it and create a group and make it a enterprise, he defined that he believes a meme coin has an opportunity to succeed in way more folks whereas nonetheless spreading his message.
guys excessive key dad was a capricorn ngl pic.twitter.com/32ApCKhlhH
— Lifeless Dad Coin (@DeadDadCoin) July 22, 2024
“My thought was that in all of artwork, you need an viewers. When you write a e book, you need it to promote one million copies,” NFN Kalyan replied. “If we do it proper, if we do it properly, then we will have a giant viewers taking note of this artwork undertaking—to this actually attention-grabbing factor that we’re doing. And that is actually what’s led to the enterprise aspect of it even present.”
And whereas the value of DDC has dropped in current weeks alongside the remainder of the market, notably many meme cash, NFN Kalyan mentioned that he plans to proceed pushing it for a very long time to come back given the non-public connection that spawned the token.
“It is an evolving undertaking that may actually go on endlessly. I am eager about IRL occasions, I am eager about all forms of issues,” he replied. “It is so near my coronary heart.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward