Solana Dev Suffers Serious Burns in Meme Coin Publicity Stunt, Remains Defiant   

A Solana developer named Mikol is recovering from third-degree burns. He sustained the injuries during a livestream stunt to promote his meme coin, TruthorDare (DARE).

In the bizarre challenge streamed on X, Mikol doused himself in some alcohol and dodged through fireworks, before ‘accidentally’ going up in flames.

Mikol was a Soundcloud rapper before he created DARE on the Solana-based platform Pump.fun a week ago. His small circle of investors are now contributing towards his treatment at a trauma center in Miami.

Also Read: Solana Price Prediction 2024 – 2030: Is SOL a Good Investment?

Solana Developer Says ‘We Are Alive’

A day after the accident, Mikol shared a video message on X, formerly Twitter, reassuring his followers that he was on the mend.

“I just want to share this message to the Dare community saying that we are alive,” the developer said.

“We have not given up on you. We are going back stronger, better than ever. As of now, I am healing. I will be here for some three to four days. Maybe less; who knows?”

DARE dev (@lonemikol) releases a video to his community from an ICU in Miami.

Amazing to see he's okay 🙏 https://t.co/WKyj4g5Cjl pic.twitter.com/3zKQvmh6TS

— Ryan S. Gladwin (@Ryan_S_Gladwin) May 23, 2024

Mikol, who has a prominent burn on his forehead, promised to come back “more motivated, more hungrier than ever.”

He said:

This is what I have always wanted to do. You guys see me doing it passionately every day. And I can’t let my community down, my family down. You guys have been doing the same for me.

With a medical update still to be issued, a firefighting expert estimated that 35% of the young developer’s body may have suffered third-degree burns, according to Decrypt.

Degen Culture Getting Dangerous

Some people have trolled Mikol’s predicament, while others are praising him for primal-level commitment to his token.

Several crypto commentators on social media spotlighted the incident as a cautionary tale for the increasingly no-limits meme coin degen culture.

Psychologist Nadja Bester told Cryptopolitan via email:

This [Mikol’s] incident highlights several troubling trends and underlying motivations within internet culture, and particularly within the context of web3 meme coins.

Bester, also co-founder of engage-to-earn investment platform, AdLunam, said crypto characteristically attracts individuals with high-risk tolerance, which is good for innovation. However, there are pitfalls, particularly in the degen culture, where high-risk tolerance is glorified.

She continued that, “Coins – and platforms like Pump.fun – that incentivize extreme behaviors by rewarding users with visibility and potential financial gain create a feedback loop where increasingly dangerous stunts are performed to capture more attention and investment.”

Dev Burns for $265,000 Market Cap Token

Mikol set himself on fire in an attempt to promote his new token, DARE. As of this writing, the token has a total market value of just $265,000 on Dexscreener. The price of DARE slumped 70% to $0.0002643 in the last 24 hours on thin volumes.

His Soundcloud biography, “im really the greatest i just suck at this internet shi (sic),” bitterly referenced his two-digit average streamed volume per track.

Things were looking up for the rapper as his small circle of followers got him stream equipment and had their sights set on a car and a rented apartment.

Having set his pants on fire in a previous live stream, Mikol took shock value a notch higher as his friends shot fireworks at him in the fateful stunt.

Also read: How a 10,000 Bitcoin Pizza Changed Bitcoin

Friends jostled to put out the fire as things got a little too real but they quickly ran out of water and did not have firefighting equipment on standby. The young developer’s circle panicked as he screamed for help on the floor and said he needed to go to the hospital.

Crypto blogger Polynya noted that “racist, sexist, and other shit-headed meme coins are merely a vehicle to transfer wealth from the many to the most obnoxious people on the planet.”

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Cryptopolitan Reporting by Jeffrey Gogo