Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, is facing backlash on Twitter for a newsletter article published on its website. In the article, the author described Ethereum-based meme coin, Pepe, as a coin “that has been co-opted as a hate symbol by alt-right groups,” citing the Anti-Defamation League for the description.

Pepe, which was launched in mid-April, is named after the Pepe the Frog internet meme. Over the weekend, the meme coin became the fastest Ethereum token to hit the $1 billion mark as meme coin trading topped $2.3 billion during the past week. However, the market capitalization of Pepe has dropped significantly in the past seven days, from about $1.65 billion to about $627 million, according to CoinMarketCap.

The market cap of Pepe dropped from about $1.65B to about $627M over the past seven days.

“For a few, speculation on meme coins has led to massive profits, but that doesn’t come without risks too — sometimes meme coin frenzies even precede broad declines in Bitcoin and Ethereum,” the article on Coinbase states.

Coinbase's Article Unsettles Crypto Twitter

Coinbase at the article ended a disclaimer, noting that “The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Coinbase or its employees.” However, the comment on Pepe as a ‘hate symbol’ appeared to have unsettled some in the cryptocurrency community.

Reacting, so-called Cryptopunk rapper, Spottie WiFi, called the Pepe community "a movement."

#DELETECOINBASE AND SHORT $COIN THIS IS A MOVEMENT NOT A MOMENT FUCK AROUND N FIND OUT IF U WANT TO @BRIAN_ARMSTRONG@COINBASE$PEPE#PEPE#PEPECOIN 🐸 pic.twitter.com/cQgDtK4tjT

— Spottie WiFi 📶 (@SpottieWiFi) May 11, 2023

Kenobi, a so-called musician and educator, noted that that "Pepe is not a symbol of hate," adding that he will be closing down his accounts with Coinbase.

I will be closing my personal and business accounts with @Coinbase and moving them to @Gemini.#PEPE IS NOT A SYMBOL OF HATE@brian_armstrong, the $PEPE community DEMANDS that you retract your vulgar statement about #PEPECOIN!!#DELETECOINBASE, SHORT $COIN 👎

— Kenobi (@OG_Kenobi_Hello) May 11, 2023

Also contributing, Twitter account Pauly, demanded an apology from Coinbase.

I GOT YOU A CAKE TO CELEBRATE @brian_armstrong. 🤡🤡🤡@coinbase@jconorgrogan@iampaulgrewal$PEPE DEMANDS AN OFFICIAL PUBLIC APOLOGY.

YOUR STOCK DROPPED $400 MILLION TODAY. 📉

FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT.

WE DARE YOU.#DELETECOINBASE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BL5sTybCNc

— PAULY (@Pauly0x) May 11, 2023

Another account, Autism Capital, critized Coinbase for passing "mixed messages."

Coinbase is refusing to list the PEPE coin, claiming it’s a hate symbol of the alt right. This is the same company notorious for listing absolute dogshit tokens all of 2020-2022.

But yet at the same time, they do based things like fight the SEC.

We keep getting mixed messages

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) May 11, 2023