Social media posters, in mocking a downturn in the cryptocurrency market, are using a popular HBO series to make jokes.
Earlier this month, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini, a bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading company, said the industry is currently experiencing a “crypto winter,” possibly a play on “winter is coming,” House Stark’s motto in the HBO series Game of Thrones. In their blog post, the Winklevoss twins, who famously sued Facebook and later settled, describe “crypto winter” as a “contraction phase that is settling into a period of stasis.”
In an article entitled, “Crypto Winter Is Coming: What You Need to Know,” Forbes points out that much like “winter is coming” was a warning about the possibility of war at any given time, those in the crypto market “must remain vigilant and be prepared for chaos to sweep over the market without much warning. Earlier this week, Coinbase, a digital currency exchange, fired 18 percent of its employees.
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Game of Thrones, starring Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams and Kit Harrington, ran for eight seasons and came to an end in 2019. However, HBO is not done with the Game of Thrones universe. A prequel series, House of the Dragon, is set to premiere in mid-August.
Some Twitter users took have taken this term and run with it, making light of “crypto winter” and invoked Game of Thrones in the process.
One man mentioned that Game of Thrones may have been prescient when it came up with the phrase.
“Who knew Game of Thrones was talking about crypto when they said winter is coming?” he posted.
One person stated that a crypto winter makes for the perfect excuse to rewatch the show.
“Gm everyone! It’s Crypto Winter. It is okay! For those still here, let’s rewatch/watch games of Thrones together,” the Twitter user wrote.
Another user posted: “GM, everyone. Crypto winter in summer. This is what Game of Thrones warned about.”
One Twitter user posted a quote from the series to explain crypto to those unfamiliar with digital currency.
“Oh my sweet summer child, what do you know about fear? Fear is for the winter, when the snow fall a hundred feet deep. Fear is for the long night, when the sun hides for years and children are born and live and die, all in darkness.”
Someone else stated that trouble for the cryptocurrency markets came soon than for characters in Game of Thrones.
“Crypto winter has come, and Coinbase is in trouble. The winter came before it did in Games of Thrones. #cryptowinter.”
One account, using a still from the series, asked others for their thoughts on the “crypto winter.”
One user mentioned that “Game of Thrones is a good metaphor for the entire space,” referencing “pointless tribal squabbles while crypto winter is always on the horizon.”
