Siqi Chen, the CEO of a technology company, reached out to X with a sincere appeal for donations to assist a laboratory’s research into an uncommon form of brain cancer that had been diagnosed in his young daughter, Mira.
A Pump.Fun user named Mira created a memecoin that reached a $80 million market valuation before dropping as Chen disclosed his intention to liquidate his supply and donate the entire proceeds to the laboratory. “We will send [the lab] a minimum of $1M, even if we do not sell a single token more,” Chen stated in an update.
Siqi Chen, CEO and CFO of startup finance platform Runway, wrote in an X post on Thursday, “I have experienced numerous memorable days on the internet over the past three decades, but this one surpasses them all.”
Chen issued an emotional appeal on X on Tuesday evening, requesting donations to assist the Hankinson Lab at the University of Colorado. It is the sole laboratory in North America that conducts research on children’s craniopharyngiomas, an uncommon form of brain tumor that impacts Chen’s young daughter, Mira. Chen’s GoFundMe has amassed more than $230,000 as of the time of writing, following signal increases from prominent X users, such as X CEO Linda Yaccarino.
Subsequently, a putative Pump generated a charity memecoin known as MIRA. The coin’s market capitalization reached an all-time peak of $80 million, causing Chen to post astonished updates. Chen’s stake in the project was abruptly worth millions as a result of X user Waddles’ purchase and subsequent transfer of 50% of the memecoin to him shortly after its inception.
Waddles wrote on X, “When I read the story about Mira and her illness, I thought it would be beneficial to purchase and send a supply to you in the hopes of rallying the SOL community around a worthy cause during the holiday season. I am ecstatic that the situation has unfolded as it has, and I am optimistic that the funds will contribute to the discovery of a cure for Mira and all individuals with her condition.”
Chen provided an update on Thursday, detailing his strategy for managing the funds in the future, following the liquidation of a portion of his supply.
“I will be liquidating $1,000 worth of $MIRA every 10 minutes, perpetually, beginning in approximately 12 hours [approximately 3 AM on December 27, UTC].” On X, Chen wrote, “Nothing more or less than that. I am committed to informing you of any modifications to this schedule at least 24 hours in advance.”
Chen said that even though some buyers may have made money off of the coin without planning to give the money to charity, the situation as a whole was a net positive.
Chen stated, “Ultimately, our objective was to raise $200K, and we anticipate that we will achieve a minimum of $1M in support of rare disease research.” “This has been a victory for the world, regardless of the circumstances.”
Following the announcement, MIRA experienced a decline in value, ultimately stabilizing at a market capitalization of approximately $20 million at the time of this writing. Additionally, a memecoin with the identifier “kitkat,” which was named after Mira’s dog, momentarily surpassed a $3 million market cap before gradually declining to approximately $150,000.
Chen stated that “100% of every rupee we have earned from this, across every kitkat/memecoin, including LP fees, will be donated directly to rare disease research (minus any tax obligations).”
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, had previously identified charity coins as a “positive-sum” take on the memecoin mania. However, he characterized previous endeavors as “far from ideal.”
Buterin stated in his blog post, “It appears that there is an untapped opportunity to establish a more sustainable and positive-sum endeavor.”
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