Crypto Bros Are Trying to Monetize Charlie Kirk’s Death

Evan Rademaker was sitting in his office in Tampa, Florida, on Sept. 10 when he heard the news of Charlie Kirk’s shooting. The first thing he did was check his social media feed on X to follow the developing story. The second thing he did was check the memecoin market.

Often when there’s a major news event, Rademaker, a 30-year-old executive at a solar panel company, looks to see which new tokens are appearing on Pump.fun, a website where crypto enthusiasts launch, trade and discuss memecoins. The site serves as a kind of news feed, as users create and promote tokens pegged to whatever person or event happens to be drawing attention that day.