Move over Bitcoin, there’s a new digital currency in town, and it’s set to take over the Internet faster than Kanye West can steal a mic from Taylor Swift at an MTV award show. Meet Coinye West, a digital cryptocurrency that promises, “No screwed up fake ‘fair’ launches, shyster devs, muted channels, and fucked up wallets,” or in other words, a “cryptocurrency for the masses.” Well, that’s at least what its enigmatic creators (who have thus far kept their identities anonymous) told Vice’s music blog Noisey last week.
The latest online monetary system, which was originally set to launch on Jan. 11, will be hitting the web at 10 p.m. tonight due to increased legal pressure, since, well, Yeezus himself isn’t actually behind the project. Lawyers for the rapper filed cease and desist papers against the coders on Monday according to the Wall Street Journal, so it’s clear that West isn’t too happy about things.
Not to be dissuaded, the folks behind the new digital currency are still set to launch and have used the recent buzz to take a shot at Yeezy by changing the site’s logo to an image of West’s head as a fish wearing his iconic shutter shades. The humorous depiction is an homage to the infamous “Fishsticks” episode of South Park that hilariously parodies the rapper’s public persona and eccentricities.
Coinye West isn’t the first online cryptocurrency inspired by a popular Internet figure. Dogecoin, introduced last December, features the face of everyone’s favorite meme-tastic Shibu Inu, and has started to gain legitimate traction despite starting out as a joke. There’s also RonPaulCoin, a Libertarian’s wet dream that features the popular Texas politician’s face emblazoned on the coin’s logo.
While Coinye may not be the first digital currency on the scene, its creators are hoping that it will catch on with mainstream users by making it easier to “mine” coins, which is just Internet speak for a sophisticated computer setup that solves complex mathematical problems in order to create new coins. Sounds kind of like Mario Bros., but with more math.
“We plan on releasing a front end to the ‘mining’ programs called CoinyeMiner,” its creators told Vice. “It will make things a lot more simple and people will be able to make their own coins.”
Only time will tell if the volatile online markets will turn Coinye into a viable online currency or if Yeezus himself will put the kibosh on the project. In the meantime, let’s just pray a MileyCoin doesn’t hit the market.
