What Are Celebrity Tokens?

• Celebrity tokens are meme coins referencing famous public personalities and entertainment icons, with many of these launched on the Solana network.Celebrity tokens derive their value from the celebrity who launched them, or whose name they bear, while using community-led promotions as seen in usual meme coins.
• These tokens may or may not be launched, endorsed, and promoted by the personalities they are named for.
• Some celebrity tokens include JENNER (Caitlyn Jenner), MOTHER (Iggy Azalea), RICH (Rich the Kid), ZACK (Edward Constantin), TRUMP (MAGA) and DAVIDO (Davido). 
• This article discusses the celebrity token meta, their relevance to crypto investors, and takes a look at some notable tokens in this category.

The Solana network has sustained a long-running meme coin wave, housing thousands of tokens that only derive value from funny events, graphics, animals, and now celebrities. The meme coin wave on the network is similar to that seen on other networks, however, the high liquidity and low transaction fees on the network has built a fertile ground for these kinds of projects to thrive, in spite of their volatility. 
Part of the fundamentals for each meme coin is its 'meta'. A ‘meta’ is the catalyst for each meme coin wave. The Trump meta, cat meta, and dog (and celebrity dog) meta are some popular ones. In what has become a new wave, celebrities around the world are now launching meme coins on the network. At time of writing, based on data from GeckoTerminal, the 24 hour trading volume of Celebrity tokens is currently over $100 million. 
Over the past few weeks, multiple celebrity-themed tokens have launched on the network. From meme coins launched by popular traders (like ZACK) to parodies of such projects ('jeo boden' and 'doland tremp') and now meme coins launched by popular musicians, like Iggy Azalea and Davido. 
Here, we discuss celebrity tokens, the celebrity meme coin meta, and what they could mean for the everyday cryptocurrency investor, along with some notable projects in the category.
Celebrity tokens reference famous personalities, ranging from sports, entertainment, politics, and even social media. Celebrity tokens can be associated directly with the referenced figure or just launched without their involvement of any sort. Regardless, the branding, promotion, and price actions of the tokens are connected to the celebrity and the coverage of them in popular media. To connect with their community, celebrity token pages usually create memes around their chosen personality that resonates with the token’s community. 
An instance is the Trump meta. The former United States president is the subject of several meme coins named after him, his election slogan (MAGA), or both. The current US president has also been used in similar projects (like Joe Boden and his meme counterpart ‘jeo boden’). While Trump is not directly involved in TRUMP (MAGA), creators of the project gifted him 580,000 tokens. 
Meme coins have also been launched in reference to football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Jack Grealish. Joining the list are meme coins launched with the names of musicians like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Kanye West. However, these public figures are not personally involved in any of these projects.
On the other hand, some celebrities have launched their own meme coins. These tokens are promoted by the celebrities themselves, who advertise them directly to their followers on social media and also engage in extra promotional activities for the tokens. Unlike unofficial celebrity tokens, celebrities are involved in the branding of these kinds of meme coins. 

• Each celebrity adopts different tactics to promote their meme coins, but these are hardly different from the basic community-driven promotions that meme coins are known for. Recent meme coins directly associated with celebrities have been caught in controversies involving meme coin promoter – Sahil Arora.

Who Is Sahil Arora?

Sahil Arora has been implicated in many celebrity meme coin launches. The Instagram influencer claims to be in contact with several celebrities and shows this off to his 1.6 million followers on the social media platform. The acclaimed influencer is reportedly behind several token launches, including one-time promotion negotiations for memecoin projects. The meme coin promoter claims to be behind the launch of JENNER, a meme coin associated with Olympic Gold Medalist Caitlyn Jenner.
However, according to reports, there are reports of irregularities regarding the delivery of negotiation terms on the sides of the celebrities and Sahil himself. Celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner, American rappers, Offset (stage name), and Iggy Azalea have also accused the influencer of not delivering on his side of the negotiations and have distanced themselves from the influencer. Following weeks of turbulence, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has reportedly banned Sahil Arora’s account. However, sources claim that he has since created new accounts, and recent activities on his Instagram page suggest that he remains active in the space.