Welcome to the age of monetized mourning. The ri

The rise of memecoins in the wake of celebrity deaths reflects a growing trend of monetizing grief rather than honoring a legacy. While some tokens claim to be tributes, most are launched without consent from families or estates. In an internet driven by speculation, sincerity feels increasingly rare.

Strange things happen when a rock legend dies in 2025. Not tributes, not tears… or maybe not just those. But token launches.

Ozzy Osbourne, legendary frontman of Black Sabbath, passed away earlier this week. Within hours, a wave of grief-themed memecoins flooded the crypto charts, each chasing momentum with tribute tickers.

In the chaos, David Schwartz, CTO, Ripple Labs, casually dropped a memory: he once ghostwrote messages on behalf of Black Sabbath on an IRC chat.

“To the public, it felt real and authentic.”

This isn’t a story about Ozzy, or even crypto exactly. It’s about how the internet went from building culture to profiting off its aftermath.

Let’s talk about that shift.