Chris Torres’s Caution Towards Meme Coins
Chris Torres, the creator of the iconic internet meme Nyan Cat, is apprehensive about getting involved in the world of meme coins, despite issuing a number of NFT collections in the past. The artist told Decrypt it’s because he views meme coins as the “wild west.”
Still, Torres has claimed more than $700,000 in fees from the Bags token launchpad. It allows anyone to launch a token on the platform and assign royalties to a user on X. The platform has housed countless tokens sending royalties to Torres, most notably a Nyan Cat token that touched a $12 million market cap on Thursday.
“I am grateful for what is happening with that platform. I’ve never had this kind of support before, and the funds will help my family a lot,” Torres told Decrypt. “I’m still respectfully cautious about things though, ultimately I don’t know who launched what, who sniped supply, or who to trust. It’s definitely still the wild west out here.”
The Puerto Rican-born artist disclosed that he has redeemed almost 4,000 SOL, which is currently worth just over $706,000, according to CoinGecko. But Torres was clear that he does not think of accepting the funds as granting his endorsement to any token or platform—nor is he comfortable with creating an official token.
“Right now, I’m focused on the art I’ve been making for over 15 years,” Torres explained. “I know the coin space can be profitable and fun, but it’s also hectic, and there is nothing worse than having to pick up the pieces if one person decides to mess with a coin. I’m not totally opposed to the idea, but I have been getting more fulfillment from the art side of things.”
How did Nyan Cat get here?
Nyan Cat is an 8-bit animation of a cat with a Pop-Tart body flying through space, leaving a rainbow trail behind it. The meme, based on his own Russian Blue cat named Marty, was originally posted to a comic site by Torres in 2011. It was later uploaded to YouTube with a Japanese song called Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya, which became synonymous with the meme.
Since then, Torres has been riding the wave of being an artist and has mingled with several classic meme creators. In 2021, he sold a one-of-one NFT of the iconic GIF for 300 ETH, or $690,000 at the time.
On the back of this, Torres claims to have tapped into his OG meme network to help them also sell NFTs. This list included the likes of Keyboard Cat, Bad Luck Brian, Scumbag Steve, and more—all selling for at least five figures. Torres also helped out the creator of Trollface, known as Carlos Ramirez, sell his classic meme as an NFT for 42 ETH, or approximately $69,000 at the time.
Recently, the Trollface artist has similarly found himself amid meme coin mania as a Troll token touched a $200 million market cap on Wednesday. However, the Troll token was created on Pump.fun, which doesn’t easily allow for royalties to be shared with artists, as is the case with Bags. Despite that, a slew of Bags tokens have also been launched in honor of Ramirez. But he has refused to endorse a token, claiming that crypto “diminishes” art due to traders’ thirst for profits.
That said, the Trollface artist ruled out pressing legal action against the tokens. Nyan Cat creator Torres took a similar stance, claiming that legal action is only worth an artist’s time in a “serious case” due to how time-consuming and stressful it can be.
“As an artist, it’s important to find a balance between protecting your IP and letting something exist as a meme,” Torres said. “If the art is used respectfully, then there’s never been a problem.”
Collaborations and the Future of Art
Over the years, Torres has collaborated with several projects to create NFT collections. This includes a 2023 Reddit Nyan Cat collection, which he says caused the social media site to temporarily go offline due to the number of people attempting to buy the NFTs.
“Most people think I am not even a part of crypto or hate it,” he said. “But I’ve been at it for almost five years and it’s been life-changing for me personally in a good way.”
Torres added that despite meme coins being the hot thing right now, he still believes that NFTs are a more natural fit for art. “Coins are definitely harder to get into than art for a new artist,” he told Decrypt. “I think with [NFT] art, people will focus on the work itself, how it makes them feel, and everything lives in a neat collection that can be viewed as a gallery of works. With coins, the moment you launch you’re expected to keep that chart going up.”
“That being said, [meme] coins can be art,” Torres added. “It’s all about the execution.”