If 2013 was the year Kanye West declared himself a god, 2014 will mark the year he gets his own namesake Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency. On January 11 at 11 P.M., a new unregulated currency called Coinye West will hit the market, mining the relative buzzy-ness of both Bitcoin and Yeezus. In an interview with Noisey, the currency's still-anonymous creators explain that their unregulated currency will be more accessible "to the masses," and that it might be used to price things like concert tickets in the near future. (This seems feasible, given that a few forward thinking acts have already begun pricing their albums in Bitcoins.) They'll stamp their digi-coins with a Graduation-era Kanye mug because "he is and always has been a trendsetter, and he's always keeping things unique." However, Kanye has yet to co-sign their efforts. But they promise to make it worth his while if he does:
"We'd love if Kanye name dropped Coinye. I think he's gonna love that there's a currency named in his honor. We don't want to pay him off to name check us, but it'd be sick if he does so. In fact, we're making an open invitation to Kanye: Get hold of us at coinyewest.com and we'll send you 100,000 COINYE on launch. A hundred thousand. Bitcoin started small too, and now look where it's at."
Coinye West's early efforts to reach out to Kanye have not seen response.
