The crypto market is declining today. However, one stock that’s seeing a much broader decline is Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). Shares of COIN stock are now down more than 3%, seeing roughly double the decline of the overall crypto market today.

This outsized move lower appears to be the direct result of ongoing drama tied to some previous comments made by Coinbase’s management team about the Pepe (PEPE-USD) meme coin. Coinbase discussed the origin of this project in a newsletter yesterday. However, many in the crypto community have seemingly taken offense with this report, highlighting Coinbase’s comments that the Pepe meme is a “hate symbol” and has ties to the “alt-right.”

This divisive rhetoric hasn’t gone over well with many in the community. Accordingly, the company issued an apology for this today amid calls for #DeleteCoinbase on Twitter and other social media platforms.

Let’s dive into what to make of this whole controversy.

Coinbase Digs Itself a Hole

For meme tokens such as Pepe, the community is really all that matters. Having a group of individuals bond over a meme is really the name of the game — and bond these folks have.

Interestingly, the comments made by Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer didn’t seem to be ultra-incendiary. And while these comments did appear to be fact-based, users and those in the Pepe community clearly took offense to the idea that they may somehow be tied to other groups that have used the meme in the past.

With #DeleteCoinbase trending in the early morning hours today, it’s clear that users had made their position clear on the subject. Today’s backtracking seen by Coinbase’s management team indicates the degree to which such meme communities hold power.