Jesús de Miguel memecoins spark backlash after striker’s death

Memecoins using Jesús de Miguel’s name and image have drawn criticism from crypto traders after CD Tenerife confirmed the 30-year-old striker’s death on Nov. 3 following an on-field collision the previous evening.

According to CD Tenerife, De Miguel died at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The club expressed its grief and said his family had requested maximum respect for their privacy while thanking people for their messages of support.

The Canary Islands government said the forward died after suffering a serious blow during Monday’s match against FC Andorra at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium. Tenerife had announced that evening that he was in intensive care at Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria.

Jesús de Miguel memecoins appear beside news of his death

Screenshots shared on X showed tokens labeled “MIGUEL” and “Miguel,” accompanied by references to the footballer’s death and photographs of him wearing Tenerife’s kit.

In an image circulated by the pseudonymous account Loshmi, a trading post displayed a position worth $175.64 and a profit of $84.99 beside a token labeled “MIGUEL.” Above the trading panel, the post referenced news that the Spanish footballer had died after a collision with a goalkeeper.

The screenshot placed a black-and-white photograph of De Miguel directly above the token position. Its accompanying text began with the news of his death at age 30 before the interface showed the position’s dollar value and profit.

Another image, shared through a separate chain of posts, showed a token called “Miguel,” with a description beginning “RIP Jesús.” Its trading panel displayed a $169.25 position and $90.29 in profit beneath a news article about the striker.

The article preview carried the headline “CD Tenerife player Jesús de Miguel (30) dies after foul by goalkeeper,” alongside another photograph of the forward.

Crypto traders condemn death-themed speculation

Responding to the first screenshot on Nov. 3, Loshmi criticized people trading memecoins based on dead people and said they deserved to lose their money.

“I genuinely don’t care what your reasoning behind it is,” the account wrote.

The post had received approximately 12,700 views at the time shown in the supplied screenshot.

In another post, the account Visionary of the Family urged traders to consider the limits of making money from other people’s lives. The account shared criticism from Meme Detective, whose embedded post accused Pump.fun users of leveraging someone’s death for a quick profit.

The objections focused on the use of a real person’s death as trading material, with both posts criticizing the activity despite the comparatively small profits displayed.

Death-themed tokens have appeared after other high-profile news events. As crypto.news previously reported in September 2025, a Charlie Kirk-themed token climbed more than 53,000% and briefly exceeded a $5 million market capitalization following the U.S. activist’s shooting.

Another token called JusticeforCharlie passed a $7 million market capitalization, according to that coverage, while copycat versions appeared across trading platforms.

Pump.fun previously outlined token moderation measures

Pump.fun faced livestream moderation complaints in November 2024 and paused the feature while describing changes to its moderation systems.

In its published community notice, the platform said its measures included removing inappropriate coin images, names, descriptions and comments, alongside taking down streams and videos.

The company said it had doubled its human moderation team and invested in automated systems. Livestream activity had grown more than 100-fold in less than a week, with hundreds of streams being removed daily.

Its notice promised clearer platform guidelines and more visibility into individual moderation decisions.

U.S. memecoin rules depend on how tokens are sold

The SEC’s corporation finance division outlined its memecoin securities position in February 2025.

In its staff statement, the division described memecoins as assets inspired by internet memes, characters, current events or trends, with prices driven primarily by speculation and market demand.

Staff said transactions involving the types described generally did not constitute securities offerings. The statement has no legal force and excludes products labeled memecoins to disguise securities offerings.

Fraudulent conduct involving memecoins can remain subject to enforcement or prosecution by other federal or state agencies under applicable laws, the division said.