Welcome back to dn80.com’s crypto autopsy series, where we exhume the corpses of tokens that promised the moon but delivered a mudslide. Today, we’re unpacking the wild ride of Patriot Pay (PPY) on the Polygon network – a token born from anti-Biden rage, hyped by MAGA heavyweights, and now a ghost town trading at pennies. We’ll trace its roots to the infamous Fuck Joe Biden (FJB) token, dissect the collapse, and explain why PPY’s trading ground to a halt. Spoiler: It’s a tale of centralized “decentralization,” internal drama, and the harsh reality that political memes don’t always pay the bills.If you’re new here, remember: Crypto’s Wild West, but with more Twitter rants and fewer actual cowboys. DYOR, apes – or you’ll end up holding the bag (and the pitchfork).The Origin Story: Fuck Joe Biden (FJB) – From NASCAR Chant to Crypto ChaosIt all kicked off in October 2021, when a post-race interview at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway went viral for all the wrong reasons. NASCAR driver Brandon Brown was celebrating his win, but the crowd’s chants of “Fuck Joe Biden!” drowned out the reporter’s attempt to spin it as “Let’s Go Brandon!” – a euphemism that exploded across conservative media, Trump rallies, and even iTunes charts with parody songs.
Enter crypto opportunists: Multiple FJB tokens popped up on chains like Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Ethereum, capitalizing on the anti-Biden fervor. But one stood out – the $FJB coin (contract: something like 0xd238aa2838dfc2ad080a14c739ef0d898a9d2bfe on BSC), launched as a “movement” token with promises of charity donations (e.g., $10K to Wounded Warriors in weeks) and peer-to-peer payments for the “MAGA economy.” reddit.com +1The real rocket fuel? Steve Bannon and Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s ex-strategists, jumped in December 2021 with a “strategic ownership position.” Bannon plugged it relentlessly on his War Room podcast as a “currency for the MAGA movement” to “screw Joe Biden” and fund jobs/charities. motherjones.com +1 Hype peaked: Volume hit $20M+ in late 2021, price surged 400% to ~$0.0005, and holders dreamed of billboards shaming Biden nationwide. protos.com +1 But cracks showed early. The smart contract had a “pauser” role – a centralized kill switch letting operators freeze individual holders’ balances at will (except their own, naturally). motherjones.com +1 Critics called it a scam door: Pump the price, lock sellers, dump your bags, then unlock for the carnage.
Holders griped of frozen wallets post-dump, and “primal disgust” turned to primal rage.
By early 2022, FJB was bleeding: Price tanked amid internal beefs (Bannon vs. devs), unfulfilled charity promises, and broader crypto winter. Trading volumes dried up, and the token became a punchline – a “rug pull in red hats.”
Total supply: ~40B, but circulating? A fraction, burned or locked away.The Rebrand Pivot: Enter Patriot Pay (PPY) on PolygonDesperate for a reboot, the team announced a migration in 2022: FJB → Patriot Pay (PPY), shifting from BSC to Polygon for cheaper fees and “financial freedom in the Patriot Economy.”
New contract: 0xfd55e4a6767ff7ffc0b8105262a8cdaabe7fbf3f on Polygon, total supply still 40B, with taxes feeding LP (liquidity pool) and charities. polygonscan.com +1 The pitch? Decentralized payments for “jobs, business, and freedom” – no more overt F-bombs, just stars-and-stripes vibes. Site: patriotpay.org, with Telegram archives of old voice chats for that nostalgic touch.
patriotpay.orgInitial buzz was meh. PPY launched trading on DEXes like QuickSwap (Polygon’s Uniswap equivalent), peaking at ~$0.001 in early 2022 amid lingering MAGA hype.
Holders: ~9K at one point, volume sporadic.
But the pauser function? Still lurking in the code, a holdover from FJB’s “flexible” design.
Promises of donations ($60K+ claimed early on) fizzled, and Bannon’s promo faded as his legal woes mounted (border wall fraud charges, anyone?). abcnews.go.com +1The Collapse: Why PPY Imploded on Polygon By mid-2023, PPY was a zombie. Price cratered to $0.0001-$0.0004, market cap? Negligible (under $1M FDV). coingecko.com +1 Volume: Pennies daily, down 40%+ week-over-week.
Holders dwindled as frustration boiled over in Telegram: Unlocked liquidity? Sure, but devs allegedly sniped early sells, and that pauser froze “suspicious” wallets during pumps.
Broader factors:
- Market Fatigue: Post-2022 bear market, political tokens lost steam. Who wants to HODL a Biden jab when BTC’s dipping?
- Centralization Backlash: The freeze feature screamed “not your keys, not your coins” – ironic for a “freedom” token. motherjones.com
- Team Drama: Bannon/Epshteyn distanced themselves; internal chaos (per ABC reports) led to stalled updates. abcnews.go.com
- Polygon Perks, No Party: Low fees helped, but without utility (P2P payments flopped), it was just a meme without the laughs.
On PolygonScan, transfers show devs consolidating supply to dead addresses (0x000…dead), signaling abandonment.
No hacks, no exploits – just a slow bleed from hype to irrelevance. The Halt: Why PPY Trading Got the Red Light Here’s the rub: PPY wasn’t “halted” by a CEX (it’s DEX-only, no Binance listings).
But trading effectively froze for many via the pauser mechanism – that god-mode feature letting operators halt transfers/sells on specific addresses. motherjones.com +1 Inherited from FJB, it was used to “combat dumps” or “bad actors,” but holders cried foul: Locked during 2022 pumps, unlocked post-crash.
By 2024-2025, with volume at zero and price flatlined, DEX liquidity pools evaporated – no buyers, no trades. Some trackers (e.g., CoinPaprika) list it as “no active markets,” effectively halting organic trading.
If you’re a holder: Check PolygonScan for your balance, but don’t hold your breath for a revival. The site’s still up, but Telegram’s a echo chamber of “wen moon?”Lessons from the FJB/PPY Fiasco: Politics + Crypto = Powder KegThis saga screams caution:
- Centralized “DeFi” is an Oxymoron: Pausers and freezes? That’s Web2 control in blockchain drag. Audit contracts on Etherscan/PolygonScan before aping. web3isgoinggreat.com
- Hype Dies Fast: Political tokens thrive on events (e.g., 2024 election buzz faded quick). Stick to utility over slogans.
- Charity Claims? Verify: FJB’s $60K donations? Great if true, but track on-chain – no transparency, no trust. coinbase.com
- Rebrands Aren’t Rescues: Migrating chains won’t fix bad code or worse vibes.
PPY’s not dead – just undead, lurking at $0.0002 with 9K holders clinging to “patriot dreams.”
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