‘We screwed up': Coinbase chief legal officer apologizes after Pepe newsletter controversy
Quick Take
- Coinbase Chief Legal Officer apologized for a newsletter that noted that Pepe the Frog is seen by some as a “hate symbol,” after it was met with backlash online.
- The exchange’s newsletter “did not provide the whole picture of the history of the meme,” Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said.
Coinbase’s chief legal officer apologized on Thursday for mentioning in a newsletter that some groups consider the Pepe the Frog meme a hate symbol for far right groups.
“We screwed up and we are sorry,” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in a tweet. “Yesterday we shared an overview of the $pepe meme coin to provide a fact-based picture of a trending topic. This did not provide the whole picture of the history of the meme and we apologize to the community.”
The drama was sparked by the Pepe memecoin’s newfound popularity. The crypto token, styled after the Pepe the Frog cartoon meme, climbed past $1 billion in market cap for the first time this month.
Coinbase published a newsletter noting the history of the meme. The Anti-Defamation League lists Pepe the Frog as a “general hate symbol” on its website.
Not long after, the hashtag #DELETECOINBASE began trending on Twitter. The mention of Pepe as a hate symbol appeared to have been deleted from the Coinbase newsletter.
Coinbase did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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