Coinbase calls PEPE a symbol of hate: Controversy in sight

Coinbase has angered Pepe holders after calling the famous meme a “hate symbol” in a newsletter. The “#deletecoinbase” hashtag has taken over Twitter, calling on them to delete their accounts. Although Binance has added Pepe to its trading list, Coinbase has yet to confirm its intention to do so. Pepe’s price has dropped 31% since the controversial announcement.

Controversial Coinbase Email Angers Pepe Holders

Since mid-March, PEPE, the frog memecoin, has been all the rage with crypto traders, and many exchanges, including Binance, have rushed to list it. However, Coinbase, one of the main crypto exchanges, seems to have doubts about this currency.

The situation was exacerbated when Coinbase called PEPE a “symbol of hate” in a newsletter sent to its customers, citing a 2016 Anti-Defamation League ruling.

This statement angered the PEPE memecoin community, who began calling for their Coinbase accounts to be deleted.

The “#deletecoinbase” hashtag goes viral

Crypto influencer Borovik.eth shared a screenshot of the newsletter sent by Coinbase on May 10 to its 96,000 subscribers. Indeed, in this newsletter, Coinbase cited a 2016 decision of the Anti-Defamation League placing the frog character in its database of online hate symbols. Following this description, fans and holders of the PEPE token were shocked, and they called for an apology from Coinbase.

In reaction to this event, Kenobi, an anonymous Twitter user and Solidity developer, said loud and clear that PEPE is not a symbol of hate. He announced that he would transfer his funds to Gemini and encouraged other users to close their Coinbase accounts using the hashtag “#deletecoinbase”.

This situation generated a buzz on Twitter with more than 14,000 tweets containing the hashtag “#deletecoinbase” within hours. Meanwhile, Gemini, a US-based crypto exchange, quickly added PEPE to its trading list.

However, Coinbase has not yet clarified whether or not it plans to add PEPE to its trading list. Since Coinbase’s announcement, PEPE’s price has seen a steep decline. Currently, the meme is trading at $0.000001241, which represents a significant drop of 31.2% in the last 24 hours.