When a cryptocurrency trade lists its first altcoin, it units itself up for an infinite cycle of launching memecoins, warns a Bitcoin-only establishment govt.
“The minute an trade provides one non-Bitcoin token, they’re signing as much as be on the endlessly hamster wheel of memecoins,” River Monetary CEO Alex Leishman said in a March 29 X put up. “It is senseless to record ETH when you don’t record the tokens issued on ETH, and the identical goes for Solana,” Leishman stated.
River has no real interest in constructing a “profitable crypto on line casino”
Leishman stated whereas there are various “profitable crypto casinos,” he has no real interest in constructing one. River Monetary is a Bitcoin-only monetary establishment specializing in shopping for and promoting Bitcoin (BTC). A number of corporations have opted for the Bitcoin-only strategy, together with Swan Bitcoin, Bull Bitcoin, and decentralized trade Bisq.
Leishman claimed that multi-asset buying and selling platforms prioritize short-term hypothesis over wealth accumulation:
“The on line casino enterprise mannequin is constructed round maximal extraction from clients, and the Bitcoin-only mannequin is concentrated on serving to individuals construct long-term wealth.”
Critics have voiced this level earlier than, even throughout the memecoin uptrend in early 2024. In April 2024, A16z chief know-how officer Eddy Lazzarin stated that memecoins hamper the long-term vision of crypto that has saved so lots of the unique builders within the area.
“At greatest, it appears to be like like a dangerous on line casino,” Lazzarin stated.
The memecoin market cap is down 27.94% over the previous 12 months. Supply: CoinMarketCap
The general memecoin market cap has taken a major downturn because the starting of 2025. Since Jan. 1, the memecoin market cap has slumped virtually 49% to $48.49 billion on the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap information.
Nonetheless, whereas altcoins have traditionally been extra unstable than Bitcoin, providing them alongside Bitcoin has been a profitable transfer for crypto exchanges and brokers.
Associated: Waiting for altcoin season? Data suggests it’s already here
On Feb. 12, Robinhood, which provides a number of cryptocurrencies to its clients, reported a 700% year-over-year surge in Q4 2024 cryptocurrency revenue.
Some merchants appear to interpret a memecoin itemizing on an trade as validation of its credibility. Among the many 15 memecoins listed by crypto trade Binance in 2024, 12 noticed important will increase in worth after going dwell on the trade, pseudonymous onchain analyst Ai_9684xtpa said in November.
CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong recently speculated that the memecoin market may be headed towards an “excessive case of energy regulation,” the place 99.99% fail and some rise to the highest and endure.
Journal: Arbitrum co-founder skeptical of move to based and native rollups: Steven Goldfeder
