Creator of Nyan Cat Labels Cryptocurrency Memes as the Wild West, Alleges $700K in Fees but Refute Endorsements
Chris Torres, the genius behind the iconic Nyan Cat meme, finds himself in the midst of a digital gold rush – the meme coin market. Despite his cautious stance and refusal to endorse any tokens, Torres has reaped substantial financial benefits from this unregulated, chaotic realm.
Torres' participation in the meme coin ecosystem began with the Bags token launchpad, where he received over $700,000 in royalties from various meme coins, including the Nyan Cat token[1][2][4]. This financial windfall will provide a much-needed boost to Torres' family.
Yet, Torres remains apprehensive about the meme coin market, likening it to the "wild west." He is concerned about the time-consuming and stressful nature of legal actions and prefers to avoid endorsing any tokens[3]. His stance is similar to that of the Trollface artist, who also rules out legal action against tokens unless it is a serious case.
Nyan Cat, an 8-bit animation of a cat with a Pop-Tart body flying through space, leaving a rainbow trail behind it, was first posted by Torres on a comic site in 2011[8]. The meme later gained popularity when it was uploaded to YouTube with a Japanese song called Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya.
Meanwhile, other classic memes have also found their way into the NFT market. For instance, the creator of Trollface, Carlos Ramirez, sold his meme as an NFT for 42 ETH, approximately $69,000 at the time[5]. However, unlike the Bags platform, the Troll token does not allow for royalties to be shared with artists. Despite this, a slew of Bags tokens have been launched in honour of Ramirez[6].
Torres has not only benefited from his own meme but has also helped other OG meme creators sell their NFTs. He has collaborated with projects to create NFT collections, including a 2023 Reddit Nyan Cat collection that temporarily caused Reddit to go offline due to the number of people attempting to buy the NFTs[7]. Among the memes he has helped sell are Keyboard Cat, Bad Luck Brian, Scumbag Steve, and Trollface.
Torres believes that meme coins can be art if the execution is right. However, he finds NFTs to be a more natural fit for art, stating that coins are harder for new artists to get into[9]. Despite his reservations about meme coins, Torres cannot deny the lucrative opportunities they present for original creators like himself.
[1] CoinGecko - Chris Torres' Nyan Cat Token Value [2] CoinGecko - Chris Torres' Total Earnings from Meme Coins [3] Torres on Legal Action Against Meme Tokens [4] Bags Token Launchpad Royalties for Chris Torres [5] Trollface Memer Sells NFT for $69,000 [6] Bags Tokens Honouring Trollface Creator [7] 2023 Reddit Nyan Cat Collection Causes Site Outage [8] Nyan Cat's Origin Story [9] Torres on Meme Coins vs NFTs
- Chris Torres, the creator of the popular Nyan Cat meme, has benefited significantly from the meme coin market, earning over $700,000 in royalties from the Nyan Cat token and other meme coins on the Bags token launchpad.
- Despite his concerns about the unregulated nature of the meme coin market, Torres has found success in the digital gold rush, reaping financial rewards from his participation.
- In contrast to the meme coin market, Torres finds the NFT market, as exemplified by the sale of the Trollface meme for 42 ETH, to be a more natural fit for art.
- Torres, a proponent of the arts in digital form, has also helped other original meme creators sell their NFTs, collaborating on projects such as the 2023 Reddit Nyan Cat collection.
