Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has voiced his disapproval of the recent celebrity memecoin trend, urging projects to prioritize value creation and societal benefit over mere financial gain. Buterin believes that a project's success should be measured by its ability to leave participants feeling satisfied and happy, even if the tokens eventually become worthless.

In response to a post about Iggy Azalea's MOTHER token, Buterin argued that financialization is only justified if it serves a purpose that brings value to society, such as improving healthcare, supporting open-source software, or promoting art and creativity. He compared the current trend to Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis' Stoner Cats project, which he considered more respectable due to its funding of an actual show.

To gain Buterin's respect, a celebrity crypto project should have a clear public benefit goal beyond enriching the celebrity and early investors. He prefers projects with longevity, ideally lasting over 10 years, and engaging features beyond simple trading. While he is not a fan of token-voting decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), he acknowledges that they provide activities and a sense of community for people. However, he stresses that the DAO should not dictate the agenda entirely but should have some degree of influence.

Buterin's criteria for respectable projects include:

- Providing value to society

- Leaving participants feeling satisfied and happy

- Having a clear public benefit goal

- Longevity (ideally over 10 years)

- Engaging features beyond simple trading

- A degree of influence from the community (through DAOs or other means)

By setting these standards, Buterin encourages celebrity memecoin projects to move beyond mere hype and focus on creating substance and value for their participants and society as a whole.