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Grammy-nominated rapper Ty Dolla $ign marked his entry into the meme coin space by dropping 3.2 million TRX, approximately $502,000, into Sundog ($SUNDOG), a meme coin built on the TRON blockchain on Monday.
The rapper’s move followed a series of tweets and light-hearted banter with American professional boxer and Sundog aficionado Ryan Garcia, who encouraged him to “bet on Sundog.”
Ty Dolla $ign began showing interest on October 3, when the rapper tweeted, "What's up with all these memecoins tho? 👀 I keep hearing about them everywhere. Is it all hype or people really making bread of this?"
The hip-hop mogul’s tweet sparked online interest, and just two days later, on October 5, he mused, "What if I drop 500k on a memecoin?" Boxer Ryan Garcia quickly responded with, "Bet on Sundog. Some mafia cult meme lol."
What's up with all these memecoins tho? 👀
I keep hearing about them everywhere. Is it all hype or people really making bread of this?
— TyDolla$ign (@tydollasign) October 2, 2024
On October 8, Ty Dolla $ign followed through, tweeting, "Just dropped half a Mil. Now send $SUNDOG 🚀," sharing a link to the TRON blockchain transaction that confirmed his 3.2 million TRX purchase of Sundog.
But not every high-profile celebrity shares the same optimism about meme coins.
Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, a well-known Dogecoin supporter, expressed his skepticism in a recent interview with Farokh Sarmad of Rug Radio, the sister company of Decrypt, saying, “Every meme coin is a rug pull in the works—but that’s also what makes them fun.”
Cuban, who treats meme coins as speculative gambles, admitted to looking at them for entertainment—but cautioned against taking them too seriously.
The rising Sundog memcoin launched in August 2024 via the SunPump memecoin launchpad, TRON’s alternative to Solana’s Pump.Fun. At the time of writing, Sundog is trading at a price of $0.2484, as per CoinMarketCap data.
Since its debut, Sundog’s market capitalization surged by more than 250%, reaching over $250 million, driven by celebrity endorsements and community engagement.
Sundog was the first meme coin to receive a 2 million TRX grant from the TRON team and conducted a $2 million airdrop to 500,000 TRX holders, boosting its popularity.
Ty Dolla $ign joins a growing list of hip-hop artists who bought into cryptocurrency. In 2020, rapper Logic invested $6 million into Bitcoin. Snoop Dogg, widely regarded as a crypto ambassador, has embraced Web3 through NFTs and blockchain-based fan experiences.
Nas, another rap legend, was an early investor in Coinbase, reportedly making over $40 million when the exchange went public in 2021. He has also explored the tokenization of music royalties, giving fans a stake in his songs through NFTs.
Soulja Boy has been another vocal proponent of Bitcoin, having released a song titled “Bitcoin” in 2018, although his involvement in controversial NFT projects has drawn scrutiny.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.