{"id":30293,"date":"2024-03-18T18:09:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T01:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blinkbargain.com\/blog\/slerf-shows-the-crypto-crowds-standards-are-lower-than-ever\/"},"modified":"2024-03-18T18:09:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T01:09:44","slug":"slerf-shows-the-crypto-crowds-standards-are-lower-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/blinkbargain.com\/blog\/slerf-shows-the-crypto-crowds-standards-are-lower-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Slerf Shows the Crypto Crowd’s Standards Are Lower Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While multi-billion dollar disasters like FTX<\/a><\/span> would lead a reasonable person to believe that the cryptocurrency industry is dead or dying<\/a><\/span>, the unfortunate truth is that it\u2019s doing just fine. Not only has Bitcoin\u2019s market price been on a familiar rollercoaster ride<\/a><\/span> lately, but droves of crypto believers have, in recent weeks, proven themselves willing invest in some of the most ridiculous projects ever.<\/p>\n

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Why Do People Buy into Crypto? | Gizmodo Interview<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Case in point: the Slerf token. Slerf is a sloth-themed memecoin that skyrocketed in value over the weekend, leading to some $1.7 billion in trading volume<\/a><\/span>. Slerf, which appears to be based around a made-up character, \u201cSlerf the sloth,\u201d<\/a><\/span> was created by an anonymous developer, @slerfsol. The Slerf project, which was announced just days ago, swiftly gained a huge following and hefty financial in-flows, only for a reported technical issue to destroy some initial investment funds. Indeed, according to the developer behind the project, a technical foible accidentally evaporated $10 million of early investors\u2019 money. <\/p>\n

\u201cI burned the LP and the tokens that were set aside for the airdrop,\u201d @slerfsol posted on X on Monday<\/a><\/span>. \u201cMint authority is already revoked so I can not mint them. There is nothing I can do to fix this. I am so f\u2014ing sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a joke I really f****d up and im really sorry. Was a simple mindless misclick when I was in the process of burning the the lp,\u201d he subsequently posted<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

I am not well-versed enough in Web3 jargon to know how this works, so I won\u2019t even attempt to explain what any of that means. Some online have accused the whole thing of being a marketing gimmick to attract attention to @slerfsol\u2019s memecoin project. Others have called it a scam<\/a><\/span>. Still others have said<\/a><\/span> it appears to have been a genuine goof-up. <\/p>\n

At any rate, Slerf is actually a lot less interesting than the new industry trend that it represents. That trend\u2014which is currently sweeping the Solana ecosystem\u2014involves what are known as \u201cmemecoin presales,\u201d<\/a><\/span> in which crypto assets are pre-sold to interested investors before the project is even launched. Crypto presales are nothing new.<\/a><\/span> However, unlike previous iterations of this setup, memecoin sales often involve little to no official documentation about what the crypto project entails. Coindesk notes that<\/a><\/span>, in some cases, they lack even the basic vestiges of context\u2014stuff like \u201ca working product, a white paper, a long-term plan or even a meme picture,\u201d and that a \u201csimple post on X\u201d can attract millions in investment. <\/p>\n

In other words: The presale model would seem to suggest that crypto zealots\u2019 standards are the lowest they\u2019ve ever been. There was a time when Web3 denizens took themselves seriously enough to DYOR, or \u201cdo your research.\u201d<\/a><\/span> before investing in projects. The \u201cwhite paper,\u201d<\/a><\/span> while often little more than a marketing gimmick, was supposed to be the stamp of seriousness that marked a stable investment opportunity. Now, the new model appears to be: Let\u2019s just send online strangers huge sums of money because their meme is cool.<\/p>\n

To be clear: There\u2019s no evidence that Slerf is a scam and, from a certain perspective, it\u2019s doing what it\u2019s supposed to do\u2014which is generate market value via buzzy FOMO. At one point, Slerf surged<\/a><\/span> from an initial price of 3 cents to a high of $1.4. That said, the industry model that Slerf is a part of would seem to engender itself to scams. In fact, it\u2019s basically a recipe for endless rug pulls<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The crypto world, itself, has openly acknowledged this. Cointelegraph notes that some of the soberer crypto minds have warned that the trend signals \u201cpeak degeneracy\u201d <\/a><\/span>in the market, a sign that people are about to get scammed left, right, and center. One crypto user pessimistically joked:<\/p>\n