Headline: Memecoins tied to Jesús de Miguel spark outrage as traders trade on striker’s death Crypto traders and platforms are facing fresh ethical backlash after memecoins using the name and image of CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel appeared on trading boards following the 30-year-old forward’s death on Nov. 3. CD Tenerife confirmed De Miguel died at 8 a.m. on Tuesday after suffering a serious blow in Monday’s match against FC Andorra at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium. The club said the player had been in intensive care at Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria and asked for “maximum respect” for the family’s privacy while thanking the public for messages of support. Within hours of the news, screenshots circulated on X showing tokens labeled “MIGUEL” and “Miguel,” accompanied by photos of De Miguel in Tenerife’s kit and headlines about his death. One image shared by the pseudonymous account Loshmi showed a trading position worth $175.64 and a profit of $84.99 next to a token labeled “MIGUEL,” with a black-and-white portrait of the striker placed prominently above the trade panel. Another screenshot showed a token called “Miguel” with a description beginning “RIP Jesús,” displaying a $169.25 position and $90.29 in profit beneath a news preview headlined “CD Tenerife player Jesús de Miguel (30) dies after foul by goalkeeper.” The posts prompted immediate criticism from members of the crypto community. Loshmi condemned those trading memecoins tied to a recently deceased person, saying they “deserved to lose their money.” Other accounts — including Visionary of the Family and Meme Detective — urged traders to consider the ethical limits of capitalizing on a real person’s death, and called out users of platforms such as Pump.fun for leveraging tragic news for quick gains. Many of the objections focused on the moral implications of using a human tragedy as trading material, even where displayed profits in screenshots were relatively small. This isn’t an isolated phenomenon. Death- or news-themed tokens have surfaced after several high-profile events. Coverage last year highlighted a Charlie Kirk-themed token that reportedly surged more than 53,000% and briefly topped a $5 million market capitalization after the activist was shot; a related token, JusticeforCharlie, similarly reached multi-million-dollar valuations and spawned numerous copycats across trading venues. Platform moderation has been an ongoing concern. Pump.fun previously paused livestream features in November 2024 amid complaints about moderation and said it would tighten controls — removing inappropriate images, names, descriptions and comments; taking down problematic streams and videos; doubling its human moderation team; and investing in automated systems. The company also pledged clearer guidelines and more transparency around moderation decisions after livestream activity ballooned. Regulators have started to weigh in on the broader memecoin landscape. In February 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance outlined a staff view on memecoins, defining them as assets inspired by internet memes, characters, current events or trends whose prices are driven primarily by speculation and market demand. The division said transactions in the types of tokens described generally did not constitute securities offerings, but stressed that the statement carried no legal force and excluded tokens that are structured to disguise securities offerings. It also warned that fraudulent conduct involving memecoins remains subject to enforcement by federal or state authorities. The De Miguel episode underscores two continuing tensions in crypto: a speculative culture that rapidly monetizes news and personalities, and the ethical and regulatory questions that follow when real lives become trading instruments. As platforms and regulators respond, the community debate over where to draw the line is likely to intensify. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news