# @mikematvei: CryptoPunks community mocked Brian Armstrong into dropping his PFP

Source: https://firefly.social/post/x/2078139112410714574?sid=1506745023

## Summary

The author argues that the CryptoPunks community drove away a high-profile supporter by mocking him over his profile picture. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase's CEO, had used a fake CryptoPunk as his avatar... Wait, the article does not say Coinbase or CEO, so I must avoid that. Revised summary: The central point is that the CryptoPunks community's mockery of Brian Armstrong over his profile picture led him to stop using a CryptoPunk avatar altogether. The writer says that whether or not the image was an official Punk, Armstrong was showing CryptoPunks to millions of people daily, and that people focused on whether it was real instead of appreciating that exposure. The piece concludes that a community should not push away someone with that reach who chooses to represent its culture.

## Article

Everyone was mocking @brian_armstrong for using a fake CryptoPunk as his profile picture.

Congratulations. Now he doesn’t use a CryptoPunk at all.

Whether it was an official Punk or not, one of the biggest names in crypto was putting CryptoPunks in front of millions of people every day.

Instead of appreciating that, people obsessed over whether the PFP was real.

If someone with Brian’s reach chooses to represent your culture, maybe the first reaction shouldn’t be to push them away.

Sometimes the community becomes the brand’s own worst enemy.

## Comments

**mishaderidder.eth**: The state of crypto July 2026 lol