Carole Baskin has join the growing list of celebrities who’ve launched digital currencies.
On Tuesday, the Tiger King star formally announced her “fan token” called $CAT—an altcoin that is intended for supporters of her Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary. Baskin emphasizes the coin is not intended for investment, but rather “a purr-ency of our fans to show their love for the cats and to reap the benefits of being our most forward thinking partners in creating a world where all wild cats live free.”
According to the Big Cat Rescue website, $CAT can be used to make a wide range of purchases, including walks around the sanctuary, conversations with Baskin and team, as well as merchandise. The nonprofit also plans to rollout virtual visits with the animals and NFT collections within the upcoming weeks.
$CAT is now available online, with prices starting at $5.
Baskin, who previously promoted Dogecoin, suggested she may delve deeper into cryptocurrency at some point, as she believes it is a solid alternative to the dollar.
“I’m investigating cryptocurrencies because I am concerned about the volume of US dollars that are being printed and distributed with nothing to back them up,” she said. “At this point both the USD and BitCoin are fiat currencies, but at least BitCoin and other altcoins have scarcity built in and now there is much more broad adoption of them in our everyday lives. I like the idea of putting the power of money in the hands of the people, rather than banks and governments.”
She continued: “Our fan base is amazing and I just know they will push $CAT to the top of the charts so that others learn about saving big cats from the cruelty of captivity.”
Baskin recently made headlines after she and her husband, Howard Baskin, offered to help Joe Exoticreduce his prison time—as long as he vowed to stop breeding tigers and fully supported the Big Cat Public Safety Act.
“If he were to do that, it might position him in a positive way for a pardon,” Howard told The Mirror. “And frankly, I might be willing to go and urge at least a reduction in his sentence.”
Carole chimed in, saying her longtime nemesis could “take all of this fame and become a hero who could save the tiger from extinction.”
Joe told Entertainment Tonight he was willing to take them up on their offer.
“I’m gonna take it one step further than that, OK?” he said. “It is time to get on the phone to President Biden or whoever they need to that they’ve got in their little financial pocket and say, ‘Hey, Joe is willing to support a big cat bill to help protect cats in America from being exploited. But we need to keep our end of the deal and get Joe a pardon because this wasn’t really about murder for hire or shooting five tigers—this was about exploiting Joe to support Carole’s agenda.’ So, there’s the offer on the table, all right?”
