Matt Furie
Drew a cartoon frog for a comic. It became a hate symbol, then a billion-dollar crypto empire.
Known For
The artist who created Pepe the Frog, then watched his creation become one of the most co-opted images in internet and crypto history
Matt Furie is the artist behind Pepe the Frog, originally a chill character in his 2005 indie comic "Boy's Club." The character's "feels good man" expression became one of the internet's first truly viral memes. But Pepe's journey took dark turns — it was co-opted by extremist groups, declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League, and became the subject of a documentary ("Feels Good Man"). Furie tried to "reclaim" Pepe through legal action and public campaigns. Then crypto happened. The $PEPE token launched in 2023 and hit a multi-billion dollar market cap. $BRETT, based on another Boy's Club character, became the biggest meme coin on Base chain. Furie's creations are now the foundation of an entire meme coin ecosystem worth billions, largely outside his control. He represents the strange reality of internet art in the crypto age — your creation can become worth more than you'll ever see.
