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A Suspicious 'Munger' Coin Soars Then Crashes After Billionaire Charlie Munger's Death

The former vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's right-hand man was no fan of cryptocurrencies.

The late Charlie Munger (Getty)
The late Charlie Munger (Getty)

A memecoin that was minted 15 minutes after billionaire crypto-hater Charlie Munger's death soared by more than 31,000% on Wednesday as speculators flocked to decentralized exchanges with millions of dollars worth of ether [ETH] and stablecoins.

The MUNGER token subsequently lost more than 98% of its value on Thursday after details emerged around the token's smart contract, which had erroneous functions programmed that allowed developers to restrict the sale of the asset.

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The former vice chairman of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway and described by Warren Buffett as his closet partner and right-hand man, Munger was a staunch bitcoin skeptic who once described the world's largest cryptocurrency as "detestable."

"I just think the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization," Munger said about cryptocurrencies in general earlier this year.

Daily trading volume for MUNGER peaked at $3.5 million on Wednesday but has since slumped to less than $60,000, according to CoinMarketCap.

Hundreds of memecoins are created everyday and whilst sometimes speculators can strike it lucky with a token like pepe [PEPE] or shiba inu [SHIB], the majority of these coins become worthless soon after launch, either due to a lack of interest or a developer rug pull.

In this case, the smart contract featured a blacklist function and authorization that could persuade users to approve what appears to be a malicious smart contract, according to GeckoTerminal.

Oliver Knight

Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings.

Oliver Knight