Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are spending millions of dollars trading “meme coins” themed around Luigi Mangione’s alleged fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last week.
Many of the coins listed on crypto sites like pump.fun sport supportive names including “Free Luigi Mangione” and “Justice for Luigi Mangione.”
One such coin, simply named Luigi, launched on Monday, the same day Mangione was charged with murder in New York. It briefly achieved a market capitalization of more than $76 million dollars.
“When someone outside the crypto-bubble … encounters headlines like this, they view it as absolutely insanity,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin told Newsweek of the phenomenon.
“After all, who would invest in a digital currency inspired by the alleged killer of a major company’s CEO? However, this currency is the latest in a string of coin offerings meant to capture some monetary value on online stories and moments that go viral and manufacture a financial component to the enthusiasm around them,” he added.
The shooting has generated a groundswell of online conversation, often with a surprisingly supportive tilt toward the suspect.
Amazon has had to repeatedly pull down wine tumblers, sweatshirts, and other merchandise supportive of the shooter.
As The Independent has reported, the wider social media conversation was often surprisingly supportive after the shooting, revealing a deep nationwide dissatisfaction for the current healthcare system.
“Currently, over 1,000 people go bankrupt daily, solely due to personal medical bills. Anyone who can make millions of dollars overseeing a system like this, and sleep well at night doesn’t deserve my sympathy,” Beau Forte, a former Green Party candidate for Congress in New Jersey who ran on a platform calling for universal healthcare, told The Independent.
Forte ran for office because his father was unable to receive care through his medical insurance provider, and was one of those who criticized Thompson after his death.
“How is it appropriate to ask me if I feel bad about the person in charge of the biggest company that allows this to happen? Apologies if that seems harsh, but that’s where I stand,” he added.