Legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair launched a tokenized sticker collection on Telegram on April 9, becoming the latest celebrity to launch a tokenized social project.
Spokespeople for the project told Cointelegraph they are considering rewarding early sticker holders with future perks, though no specifics were shared. Flair told Cointelegraph that the project was launched to drive community engagement and added:
"Telegram is where people are really showing up these days. It is global, it is fast, and the way people communicate there just felt like the perfect fit for what we are doing. These stickers are about energy, personality, and culture, and Telegram is the place to bring that to life."
The wrestler's tokenized sticker launch follows mixed-martial arts champion and Irish political candidate Conor McGregor's memecoin launch on April 5, which failed and highlights the struggle of risk-on investments and digital assets amid the recent macroeconomic downturn.
Flair, who retired from wrestling in 2022, has previously ventured into the crypto space. In 2024, he introduced the "Wooooo!" coin (WOOOOO), a memecoin inspired by his iconic catchphrase. The token has no trading activity as of April 9, 2025, with only one address controlling over 70% of the supply, according to CoinMarketCap.
The legendary wrestler has a history of merchandising his brand through various collectibles, including physical stickers available on his official online store and Amazon.
Wrestling icon Ric Flair joins Telegram and touts new project. Source: Ric Flair
Related: Melania Trump’s memecoin team ‘quietly sold’ $30M, says Bubblemaps
Memecoins suffer in the turbulent macroeconomic environment
Memecoins were one of the biggest narratives of 2024 and one of the highest-performing asset classes, with top-performing memecoins returning four-figure percentage gains to investors during the year.
The market for memecoins and other social tokens peaked in December 2024 amid a historic rally in the crypto markets. However, since then, memecoin prices have plummeted, with many top-tier memecoins such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Pepe (PEPE) shedding approximately 70-80% of their value over the period.
The macroeconomic uncertainty from the ongoing trade war has also damped the appetite for riskier assets as investors flee into more stable investments like cash, government bonds, and stablecoins.
Crypto markets bleed amid macroeconomic downturn, particularly altcoins, memes, and other social tokens. Source: TradingView
Conor McGregor's REAL token launched amid the macroeconomic crash and failed to meet its $1 million minimum funding requirement.
The project only managed to raise $392,315 during its April 5-6 sealed-bid auction presale — well under the $3 million goal set by the team and the Real World Gaming decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
REAL's developers announced a full refund to bidders after failing to reach the minimum funding target. Despite this, the Real World Gaming DAO signaled that this would not be the end of the project.
Magazine: Memecoins: Betrayal of crypto’s ideals… or its true purpose?