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A Livestreamed Tragedy on X Sparks a Memecoin Frenzy


When a young man from California broadcast his death on X, profit-hungry traders piled into a cryptocurrency created in his image.

Speculation ran rampant on X that Haro had ended his life because he had lost money to a memecoin rugpull—a maneuver whereby somebody creates a new coin, promotes it online, then sells off their holdings in one swoop, devaluing everyone else’s stake. In a statement provided to WIRED, Pump.Fun spokesperson Troy Gravitt described Haro’s death as a “tragedy,” but explained that the coins made in his image, though “clearly in poor taste,” do not violate the platform’s terms of use. The appeal of making money rings so much louder than calls of danger,” says Benjamin Johnson, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland specializing in the public health implications of digital technologies.

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livestreamed tragedy