In the wild world of cryptocurrency, not all tokens are what they seem.

Some can lead to great riches. Others can net you real-life rewards.

But some tokens… can kill you (financially).

So hold on to your seats as we take you through another awarding-winning Coffee&Crypto exposé on the deadliest token to hit crypto.

Be warned, this token may shock you. Reader discretion is advised.

Espresso Shots

☕️ Debt Tokens on the Rise 💳 ⤴

In 2023, DeFi Debt Tokens have outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Now, tokenization is an already huge and growing trend in crypto in which digital assets are tied to… real world assets such as cars, houses, or concert tickets.

But Debt Tokens offer the innovative, but scary experience of tying digital currency to real world debt.

Two of the most popular Defi Debt Tokens are provided by Maplefinance, a DeFi platform which offers undercollateralized loans and Centrifuge, which helps small businesses access DeFi liquidity.

And many of these debt-based protocols have netted investors double digits gain, but all of that may change when Joe Biden makes good on his promise to eliminate the Student Loan Token.

☕️ Zimbabwe's Gold Rush 🇿🇼 💰

Zimbabwe has been amassing its own, gold-backed stablecoin for some time.

And now, completely ignoring the warnings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The Royal Bank of Zimbabwean sold 14 billion of its gold-backed digital tokens, worth roughly $39 million USD, to individual buyers and corporations.

“The issuance of the gold-backed digital tokens is meant to expand the value-preserving instruments available in the economy and enhance divisibility of the investment instruments and widen their access and usage by the public,” said Dr. John Mangudya, Governor of the Royal Bank of Zimbabwe.

But the IMF warned that this mass sell-off may only increase Zimbabwe’s economic volatility. Zimbabwe has been struggling since 2009, when the country adopted USD in an attempt to solve hyperinflation and rendered the local currency practically worthless.

A Zimbabwean dollar was introduced in 2019, but that only resulted in more volatility.

“If you think this is crazy,” laughed the Royal Bank of Zimbabwe, “wait ‘till you see our blockchain built entirely of ivory.”

☕️ The Minecraft of Web3 ⛏ 💻

Web3 gaming has long been looking for its flagship title and they may have found it with “Mirandus.”

Purporting to be a survival fantasy game that’s “World of Warcraft meets Minecraft,” Mirandus will have players farm and craft in a fantasy setting, while surviving attacks from wolves, goblins, and other monsters outside the walls of their citadel.

Like Minecraft, Mirandus will have a first-person perspective and minimalist graphics.

As far as NFT implementation, Gala, the company behind Mirandus, is already selling unique playable characters, mounts, boats, and houses.

Mirandus hasn’t even launched yet, but there has already been $31 million USD in ETH traded for in-game assets.

If this becomes more popular than Minecraft, your six-year old won’t just be asking for the iPad at dinner, he’ll be asking for your credit card.

Spilling the Beans

This Token Can Kill You 🔪 💰

Not all tokens are created equal.

In some ways, that’s one of the foundational tenets of crypto.

Tokens are assets, only as valuable as the blockchains, protocols, or the DAOs behind them.

And when it comes to evaluating crypto assets, it often comes down to a confidence game.

It can be difficult to discern which tokens are really worth your time when they’re popping up constantly, all with differing levels of hype and supposed utility.

Pepecoin’s recent, astronomic bull run past a $1 billion market cap has ushered in an era that some are calling “Memecoin Mania” or as others are less affectionately referring to it, “Shitcoin Spring.”

And one individual, who goes by “Voshy” on Twitter, thought it might be fun to engage in a little social experiment.

Voshy saw the way that these memecoins were being promoted and advertised on Twitter, so they started engaging in all of these same strategies and behaviors, but with a fictional token called “$GREED.”

And it all started with this tweet.

Because of Twitter’s crypto climate, Voshy began attracting thousands and thousands of followers

And it would seem that nobody got the irony. Voshy was getting DMs in their inbox with seven-figure offers for a non-existent token.

Frustrated that nobody was getting it, Voshy only continued to act more ludicrous and criticize memecoins further, but this only added to $GREED’s hype.

So then, like the witch in a crypto fable, Voshy decided to make $GREED token real. Sort of.

Behind the scenes, Voshy was working with developers to create a program that would teach some of the greediest, least discerning voices in crypto a hard lesson.

Voshy even intentionally made the program look incredibly sketchy, installing all sorts of language and features that should draw red flags, such as the excessive allowance of permissions to access the $GREED token.

When Voshy finally “published” $GREED, it entailed a simple “Claim” button that would airdrop the token to you so you could begin collecting $GREED tokens.

But the users who fell for it were in for a nasty surprise. Yes, the button did airdrop 8,007,320,330 of worthless $GREED tokens to the user, but it also hijacked their Twitter account to post this embarrassing message:

“It started a few days ago when I heard about $GREED. I failed to see this was an attempt at sarcastic social commentary and got caught up in the hype. Fear of missing out was stronger than my good judgment.”

“The actions I took could have had HORRIBLE CONSEQUENCES.”

“Someone could have taken complete control of my Twitter account, impersonated me, used it to scam my friends or worse. And I willingly gave them my permission to do so.”

“Someone could have drained my wallet completely. And I signed the transaction that would have allowed them to do so.”

“From now on, I will not allow myself to be overwhelmed by greed or FOMO. I will think twice before connecting my wallets to random sites and be careful about the permissions I’m granting.”

Yes, a humbling lesson to be sure, but a merciful one. All of these users put Voshy in a position where they could have done any of those things to their accounts.

We don’t want to sound like your elementary school librarian here but… be careful on the internet.

Believe none of what you hear and less than half of what you read. DYOR.

Because literally no other hacker is going to pilot your account with Voshy’s educational lessons in mind. They’re going to drain your wallet and use your identity to bother your cousin’s boyfriend on Instagram.

Stay safe, stay secure, and hopefully, try to avoid falling victim to a humiliating, copypasta social experiment.

Meme of the Day

We feel bad for them, but we're still going to laugh. 😆

Crypto 101

Undercollateralized Loans: These are unique to Web3, enabling borrowers to secure loans with collateral that's less than the loan's value.

This represents a significant shift in Decentralized Finance, moving away from traditional banks and creating fresh opportunities for the little guys.

The Last Sip

To save Web3 game developers some time, we thought up some quick, plug and play elevator pitches for their startup Web3 games claiming to be the next ____. Here we go.

• “It’s like Halo meets The Sims. You can shoot your furniture”

• “It’s like Animal Crossing meets Mortal Kombat. Not only can you perform fatalities on the villagers, you can actually buy tokens that make the animations bloodier.”

• “It’s like Galaga meets Tetris. You can pilot the blocks that don’t fit into other spaces and… what’s that? No. Yes. Yeah. Pre-access will be $2,999.”

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.