Memecoins once again seized on a viral news moment and Dolly Parton became their latest target. After it was announced on Tuesday that the beloved country singer had diedUsers rushed to popular memecoin platforms to launch tokens in their name, known for being driven by online trends and hype rather than underlying values. What followed was very un-Dolly-like behavior on the part of the coin issuers. They pulled a classic “carpet pull”: After promoting the tokens until they attracted enough buyers, insiders sold their holdings just before the peak, sending their prices plummeting.
A variation of Parton’s name was used on most coins, including “Dolly,” “DollyParton,” and “RIP Dolly Parton.” They launched either on Pump.fun, the popular Solana memecoin platform, or on Robinhood Chain, a newer blockchain network. “Dolly” was one of the best actors, to reach A market cap of nearly $480,000 within the first hours of its launch before plummeting below $180,000.
Recent token launches follow a familiar pattern of memecoin creators exploiting the deaths of high-profile figures. Similar campaigns emerged after the deaths of former One Direction member Liam Payne, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
They also revived a trend that would become one of the defining narratives of cryptocurrencies in 2025. At the time, speculative capital flowed into these internet-driven tokens, particularly Solana. Platforms like Pump.fun made it inexpensive and easy for almost anyone to create a token, turning memecoin trading into a fast-attention market where traders sought extreme short-term returns. The overwhelming majority of these launches have little economic value and almost all collapse to near zero.
Public skepticism towards memecoins increased as high-profile figures began releasing their own memecoins. Two days before his inauguration in January 2025, President Donald Trump started the TRUMP token, which briefly reached a market cap of around $8.7 billion before losing more than 90% of its value, according to crypto analytics provider CoinGecko.
First Lady Melania Trump followed with the MELANIA token reaching a high of almost $9 two days later. It currently costs 11 cents.
In February 2025, Argentine President Javier Milei made a public statement approved the LIBRA memecoin, which quickly rose in value before collapsing within a few hours. A federal judge then opened an investigation into the fraud allegations, although Milei has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Despite memecoins’ poor reputation, the sector remains a focus for parts of the crypto industry. In July, Robinhood launched Robinhood Chain as a network targeting tokenized stocks and other real-world assets, but memecoins quickly became among the most actively traded assets. Within a few days Cash cata token named after an early possible name of the broker reached a market cap of around $150 million, according to CoinGecko.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com