Coinye West: A new cryptocurrency for the masses and an ode to Kanye
"We takin' shots at Bitcoin." This is the tagline of the latest cryptocurrency to hit the Web. It might sound bold, but it has to be—it's trying to emulate a pretty bold character, after whom it has entirely modeled its image.
CoinYe West is a modern day love letter to musician Kanye West. Its creators are in the process of fashioning a currency dedicated to the man himself, and have chosen to stamp his likeness on it and to advertise it with a website featuring his "BLKKK SKKKN HEAD" video in the background. If this is not a new slight of genius self-promotion from the oft misguided West, it's certainly a takedown notice in the making.
Choosing a popular culture figure to represent a decentralised, anonymous, and unregulated currency might seem an odd choice, but it had already been done before with Dogecoin, a nod to the Doge meme. Coinye West's creators, who spoke to Noisey in an e-mail interview (because they "want to stay sorta anonymous in case Kanye gets pissed off"), believe that West is in fact the perfect choice. By using a pop culture icon to launch a currency, they are hoping to bring cryptocurrencies to the masses. "Bitcoin is for hardcore money-hoarders, and Dogecoin was more for the Internet-meme crowds," they said.
