Jason Calacanis calls meme coins a ‘giant scam’

Technology investor Jason Calacanis has called meme coins a “giant scam” while warning users that he has no involvement with tokens using his name or suggesting his endorsement.

Calacanis said on Sept. 27 that he has “nothing to do with any meme coins and never will,” while identifying Bitcoin and Bittensor’s TAO as two crypto assets he sometimes discusses publicly.

His post included a separate warning about impersonation and unsolicited investment messages. Calacanis said he would never ask followers through social media or direct messages to buy, sell or trade an asset.  

Jason Calacanis distances himself from meme coins

Calacanis drew a clear distinction between discussing crypto assets and participating in meme-token projects.

“I have nothing to do with any meme coins and never will,” he wrote. He added that any meme coins sent to accounts under his control would not change his position.

Calacanis said funds successfully sent to him by people operating such projects would be donated to a “good cause.” He did not identify any particular meme coin or claim that a named project had used his identity.

The investor described himself as a fan of BTC and TAO, although his recent public comments on Bitcoin have included criticism as well as positive posts about short-term price movements.

His warning focused particularly on messages that could appear to come from him. Calacanis told users he would “obviously never ask you to buy, sell or trade anything,” especially through social media or direct messages.

The statement follows repeated cases in which public figures have had their names, images or compromised accounts connected to meme tokens without authorization.

As crypto.news reported in July, blockchain investigator ZachXBT said several meme coins had been created using his identity even though he had not launched or supported them. He sold tokens sent to his donation address and directed roughly $41,000 in proceeds to charities.

Calacanis did not say a comparable incident had occurred with his account. His Sept. 27 post served as a public statement that any purported meme coin involvement should not be treated as his endorsement.

Meme coin sector remains a multibillion-dollar market

Meme coins continue to represent a sizable part of the cryptocurrency market despite Calacanis’s criticism.

CoinGecko data puts the combined market capitalization of tracked meme tokens near $35.9 billion, with approximately $3.55 billion in 24-hour trading volume.

Dogecoin remains the largest asset in the category, with a market value near $15 billion. Shiba Inu follows at roughly $3.4 billion, while MemeCore is valued near $2.8 billion.

Pepe and Pump.fun’s PUMP each have market capitalizations around $1.8 billion. Other heavily traded names include Pudgy Penguins’ PENGU and Official Trump.

Meme coins generally derive much of their value from online communities, attention and speculation instead of claims on business revenue or traditional financial assets. CoinGecko describes the category as tokens that gain relevance through memes and community-driven momentum.

Calacanis has criticized the risk profile of such assets before his latest statement. He has argued that people should not buy meme coins or invest in startups unless they are financially able to lose their entire investment.

His latest wording goes further by describing the category itself as a “giant scam.” That characterization represents Calacanis’s opinion and does not establish that every meme-token project is fraudulent.

Fake meme coins have used public figures to attract traders

Recent incidents show why public figures sometimes issue explicit statements distancing themselves from tokens associated with their identities.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was compromised in July and used to promote a fake company-linked meme coin named Vladhood. The token briefly reached a market capitalization near $10 million before Robinhood confirmed that Tenev’s account had been breached.

Robinhood removed the unauthorized promotion and worked with X to restore control of the account.

A separate attack targeted Keith Gill, the trader known online as Roaring Kitty. His verified X account was used in May to promote a Solana token called Red Kitten Crew.

Crypto.news reported that traders lost millions after the token briefly reached a market capitalization of roughly $12 million. The developer had acquired 39.5% of the token supply through multiple wallets before selling tokens worth approximately $611,000.

Influencer names can be used without a compromised account as well. In June, several Solana tokens appeared using the identity of crypto commentator Ansem.

In related coverage, crypto.news reported that Ansem had not created most of the tokens bearing his online identity and had publicly disavowed several versions.

The episodes differ from Calacanis’s post because there is no evidence in his statement that his X account was hacked or that a specific unauthorized token had already been launched in his name.

Calacanis remains critical of Bitcoin despite calling himself a fan

Calacanis’s support for Bitcoin has come with repeated criticism of the asset’s development and long-term role.

On Sept. 18, he described Bitcoin’s rebound as a “dead cat” bounce while questioning how much progress the network had made after roughly 17 years.

He argued that Bitcoin remained difficult for mainstream consumers to use for everyday transactions and criticized its limited native smart-contract functionality. Calacanis questioned whether public interest in the cryptocurrency remained as strong as in previous market cycles.

Those comments were an opinion about Bitcoin’s utility and market direction, not a technical finding about the network.

Bitcoin has since traded substantially higher. Recent market data placed BTC near $85,000 after an eight-month high above $86,000, while the asset was approaching positive year-to-date performance.

Calacanis made similarly skeptical remarks in August, when he described an earlier Bitcoin rebound as another “dead-cat bounce” and said he believed individuals and institutions had more valuable assets available to own.

At other times, he has posted positively when Bitcoin prices rise. His Sept. 27 statement therefore did not reject cryptocurrency as a whole. It specifically separated his interest in BTC and TAO from meme coins.

Social media remains a route for crypto impersonation scams

Calacanis’s warning about private investment instructions follows several attacks in which scammers have relied on trusted social identities rather than vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency protocols.

In July, compromised SpaceX and Starlink accounts promoted a meme coin named SCATMAN. Crypto.news reported that the attacker used the companies’ established identities to direct attention toward the token before selling holdings worth approximately $135,000.

Meme-coin traders have faced other attack methods. Crypto.news reported in September that malicious websites connected with token listings were displaying fake Cloudflare verification screens and instructing users to execute computer commands. One trader reported losing roughly $600,000 after interacting with such a page.

Calacanis did not announce a new token, investment product or crypto fundraising project in his Sept. 27 statement. His post said he discusses Bitcoin and TAO publicly but will not privately instruct followers to trade assets or participate in meme coins.