The post Ozzy Osbourne & the memecoin frenzy – How death became a DeFi event appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Key Takeaways The rise of memecoins in the wake of celebrity deaths reflects a growing trend of monetizing grief rather than honoring a legacy. While some tokens claim to be tributes, most are launched without consent from families or estates. In an internet driven by speculation, sincerity feels increasingly rare. Strange things happen when a rock legend dies in 2025. Not tributes, not tears… or maybe not just those. But token launches. Ozzy Osbourne, legendary frontman of Black Sabbath, passed away earlier this week. Within hours, a wave of grief-themed memecoins flooded the crypto charts, each chasing momentum with tribute tickers. In the chaos, David Schwartz, CTO, Ripple Labs, casually dropped a memory: he once ghostwrote messages on behalf of Black Sabbath on an IRC chat. “To the public, it felt real and authentic.” This isn’t a story about Ozzy, or even crypto exactly. It’s about how the internet went from building culture to profiting off its aftermath. Let’s talk about that shift. What lasts and what launches The internet used to build culture. Now it profits off the aftermath. Hours after Osbourne’s death, memecoins bearing his name flooded the blockchain. Not just memories or music. We now have speculative code presented as homage. Source: Dextools.io So what does it mean to preserve a legacy in the age of instant minting? Is it about telling the story, or owning it? Are we aware of where to draw the line? Rest in peace Web3 and memecoins This isn’t the first time crypto has responded to tragedy with speculation. When Queen Elizabeth II died, over 40 memecoins launched within hours – notably, Queen Elizabeth Inu pumped 28,506% despite just $17K in liquidity. OpenSea is filled with red-eyed pixel NFTs and generative tributes. Most would call this kind of action distasteful, but to…

---

Filed under: News - @ July 26, 2025 7:27 pm