Hulk Hogan, Ozzy memecoins soar as tributes roll in over icons’ deaths

Memecoins inspired by the late wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osbourne skyrocketed as tributes flooded over the two popular icons’ deaths this week.

Terry Bollea, better known by his wrestling ring name Hulk Hogan, was reportedly pronounced dead in a hospital on Thursday at the age of 71 after medics arrived at his home to answer a call about a possible cardiac arrest.

It comes just days after Ozzy Osbourne, the hard-partying frontman of English rock band Black Sabbath, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76.

Hogan was the most famous wrestler in the WWF, now WWE, during the 1980s, and had a career that spanned decades, both in the ring and across television and film.

Osbourne, often nicknamed the Prince of Darkness, is considered an icon in the music world and is seen as an iconic heavy metal musician. Black Sabbath is estimated to have sold 75 million albums globally.

Source: Vince McMahon

Hulk, Ozzy memecoins soar

A Wrapped Ethereum (wETH) token called Hulkmanaia (HULK) rose over 122,000% at its peak to trade at 0.001335, according to data aggregator DEXTools. It was only created eight hours ago.

At the same time, coins that appear to be trying to use Osbourne’s likeness have also popped up, with one known as The Mad Man (OZZY) pumping over 16,800% to trade at $0.003851 and hit a market cap of $3.85 million.

His passing also sparked a surge in the non-fungible token market as fans rushed to buy one of his official CryptoBatz collection.

None of the new tokens are connected to the estates of either man, and several have disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared, likely rug pulls.

Another Hogan coin launched last year

A Solana memecoin, HULKAMANIA (HULK), launched on June 6 last year, has spiked over 2000% in the last 24 hours, to trade at $0.0006146, and reach a market cap of over $500,000, according to DEXTools.

Despite the spike, it’s still far from its $18.8 million market peak, which it reached after Hogan’s X account promoted the token last year. The posts were later deleted, and Hogan claimed the posts weren’t made by him.

Related: Politicians’ memecoins, dropped court cases fuel crypto ‘crime supercycle’

Memecoins often follow famous deaths

This isn’t the first time a flood of memecoins has been made following a famous death.

Memecoins using the name and lines of former NFL player and convicted felon OJ Simpson appeared soon after he died in April 2024. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s death in November 2023 also spawned several memecoins in bad taste.

Meanwhile, fans of both Osbourne and Hulk flooded in tributes this week, calling the wrestler the greatest of all time and the musician a one-of-a-kind rock god.

Magazine: Memecoin degeneracy is funding groundbreaking anti-aging research