Coinye Explained

Image Title 1:Former, official logo
Image Width 1:110
Image 2:File:Coinye_2021.jpg
Image Title 2:Logo after 2021
Date Of Introduction:January 7, 2014
Using Countries:International
Inflation Rate:Limited release, production rate before this limit re-evaluated with the production of every block (at a rate of approximately 1 block per 90 seconds) based on the difficulty with which COINYEs are produced, eventually leading up to a final total of 133,333,333,333 coins.
Inflation Method:1 reward is released per block found. Rewards halve every 100K blocks.
Symbol:COYE
Plural:COINYE

Coinye, formerly Coinye West, is[1] a scrypt-based cryptocurrency. Cease and desist letters were issued against it for its use of the American hip hop artist Kanye West, as its mascot despite West having no affiliation with the project.[2] [3] The project was abandoned by the original developers following West's filing of a trademark infringement lawsuit against them.[4]

History

Release

Coinye was originally slated for release on January 11, 2014, but legal pressure prompted David P. McEnery Jr. and his development team to release the source code and mining software on January 7, a few days ahead of schedule.[5] Early press materials promised a proper and fair release, with no pre-allocation of coins.[6] However, later statements from the developers confirmed that approximately 0.37% of the maximum money supply of Coinye had been reserved for the creators of the coin before launch.[7] The developers claimed that this was to cover unexpected legal and development costs.

Trademark-infringement lawsuit

On January 6, 2014, Kanye West's lawyers sent the development team a cease and desist order on the basis that the then-unreleased currency constituted trademark infringement, unfair competition, cyberpiracy and dilution.[8] [9] In response to the legal threats, the development team changed the name of the currency from "Coinye West" to "Coinye" and moved to a new domain name.[10] By January 10, 2014, the development team stated that they had removed all references to West but instead "to a half-man-half-fish hybrid," a nod to a South Park episode in which West fails to realize why people are jokingly calling him a "gay fish."[11] These actions were not sufficient to appease West's legal team, and a lawsuit was filed against the creators of the coin, prompting them to sell their Coinye holdings and leave the project.[12]

Developer departure and community takeover

On January 14, 2014, a representative of Coinye announced on Reddit that "the developers basically dumped all their coins on the one exchange and left the scene."[12] Coinye's official site was replaced with text reading "Coinye is dead. You win, Kanye." and the original website is now down.[13]

Decline (2014-2020)

Coinye has been called "defunct" by numerous publications.[14] [15] [16] Coinye's global block difficulty fell from 78 to 1.012 between January 18, 2014,[17] and May 7, 2014,[18] indicating that the network's total processing power fell by roughly 99% during that time. According to music writer Sasha Geffen, in the midst of the 2017 cryptocurrency bull market, Coinye would have risen in value up to twentyfold, had Kanye West not threatened legal action.[19] However, in 2017, few people were still trading or mining Coinye.[20]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019-05-03 . Coinye: Sued and Scolded, but Still Alive . 2022-06-28 . ICO.li . en-US . 31 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220331044651/https://ico.li/coinye/ . live .
  2. Web site: Oh Yeezus! Cryptocurrency gets hip with Kanye-inspired 'Coinye West'. Yannick LeJacq . . 2 January 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140102230617/http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/oh-yeezus-cryptocurrency-gets-hip-kanye-inspired-coinye-west-2D11840387 . 2014-01-02 . 19 June 2014.
  3. Web site: Bitcoin Rival Coinye West To Launch This Month . Adam Gauntlett. . 3 January 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140107232313/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130992-Bitcoin-Rival-Coinye-West-To-Launch-This-Month . 2014-01-07 . 19 June 2014.
  4. News: Winograd. David. Kanye Sues Coinye, and The Cryptocurrency's Creators Back Down . TIME . 14 January 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140202122344/http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/14/kanye-sues-coinye-and-the-cryptocurrency-creators-back-down/ . 2014-02-02 . 19 June 2014.
  5. Web site: Kanye's Lawyer Moves to Block Coinye . Danny Yadron . Digits. The Wall Street Journal. 7 January 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225209/https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/07/kanyes-lawyer-moves-to-block-coinye/ . 2014-01-07 . 19 June 2014.
  6. Web site: Clark. Liat. CoinYe West: a new cryptocurrency for the masses and ode to Kanye. 3 January 2014. Wired. dead. 19 June 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140725014425/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-01/03/coinye-west. 25 July 2014.
  7. News: Vega . Danny . Coinye West: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know . Heavy . 8 January 2014 . 19 June 2014 . 13 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140813061936/http://heavy.com/tech/2014/01/coinye-west-kanye-bitcoin/ . live .
  8. Web site: Rose . Brad . Infringement of KANYE WEST Mark and Other Violations . 6 January 2014 . Pryor Cashman LLP . 19 June 2014 . 1 December 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044157/https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/20140107-WSJ-coinye.pdf . live .
  9. Bound 2 Happen: Kanye West Demands Coinye Programmers Shut Down the Digital Currency . Kyle Chayka . TIME. 7 January 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140108030448/http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/07/bound-2-happen-kanye-west-demands-coinye-programmers-shut-down-the-digital-currency/ . 2014-01-08 . 19 June 2014.
  10. Web site: Kanye's Lawyer Moves to Block Coinye. Danny Yadron . Digits. The Wall Street Journal. 7 January 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225209/https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/07/kanyes-lawyer-moves-to-block-coinye/ . 2014-01-07 . 19 June 2014.
  11. Web site: Coinye responds to Kanye complaint, says currency now based on 'half-man half-fish hybrid'. Adi Robertson . The Verge. 10 January 2014 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140110211234/http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/10/5295956/coinye-cryptocurrency-responds-to-kanye-west-cease-and-desist . 2014-01-10 . 19 June 2014.
  12. News: Newton . Casey . 14 January 2014 . Coinye developers say they're abandoning project as Kanye West escalates legal battle . The Verge . 19 June 2014 . 22 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230322191534/https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/14/5308480/kanye-west-ratchets-up-legal-battle-against-coinye-operators . live .
  13. News: Geffen . Sasha . How much would Coinye be worth today if Kanye West hadn't sued it to death? . 28 January 2019 . 14 December 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171214063025/http://www.thefader.com/2017/12/13/kanye-west-cryptocurrency-coinye-worth-2017 . live .
  14. Web site: O'Rourke. Patrick. Kanye West kills the Coinye, a bitcoin-like cryptocurrency named after him. canada.com. Postmedia Network. 3 June 2014. 19 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140119042822/http://o.canada.com/technology/internet/kanye-west-kills-the-coinye-a-bitcoin-like-cryptocurrency-named-after-him. dead.
  15. Web site: McGovern. Kyle. Coinye West Is Now Out of Print. SPIN. 14 January 2014. BUZZMEDIA. 3 June 2014. 6 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150706213351/https://www.spin.com/2014/01/coinye-west-out-of-print-kanye-west-lawsuit/. live.
  16. Web site: Burt. Chris. Kanye West Sues Digital Currency Coinye, Alleged Hosting Provider AWS. The Whir. iNet Interactive. 3 June 2014. 17 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140117082610/http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/kanye-sues-digital-currency-coinye-and-aws. live.
  17. News: The cryptocurrency who lived twice: Coinye is back [infographic]]. 15 February 2014. Bitcoin Examiner. 18 January 2014. 21 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140121015018/http://bitcoinexaminer.org/the-cryptocurrency-who-lived-twice-coinye-is-back-infographic/. live.
  18. Web site: Web Archive - CoinyeCoin Alt Explorer . https://web.archive.org/web/20140507162622/http://altexplorer.net/chain/CoinyeCoin?hi=37282 . 7 May 2014 . altexplorer.net . dead . 19 June 2014 .
  19. Web site: How much would Coinye be worth today if Kanye West hadn't sued it to death?. Sasha Geffen. December 13, 2017. The Fader. August 26, 2018. 14 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171214063025/http://www.thefader.com/2017/12/13/kanye-west-cryptocurrency-coinye-worth-2017. live.
  20. Web site: Where some of the weirdest cryptocurrencies of the early.... 30 December 2017. The Verge. 6 November 2018. 30 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171230143234/https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/30/16796716/dogecoin-litecoin-altcoin-bitcoin-coinye-west. live.

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