When the Meme coin encounters a social hot spot: LUIGI staged a "crypto Robin Hood" plot

Original｜Odaily Planet Daily News (@OdailyChina)

Author | Wenser (@wenser 2010)

At 2 a.m. on December 10th, a meme coin named LUIGI was listed on pupm.fun for about 30 minutes before it landed on the popular coin selection platform Moonshot. Amid speculation of a ‘conspiracy’ or a ‘big golden dog’ market, its market value quickly skyrocketed, reaching nearly $80 million at one point. Subsequently, news of ‘Luigi Nicholas Mangione, a digital nomad, shooting the largest insurance company in the United States’ spread like wildfire. Thus, another ‘news hot spot meme coin’ attracted countless market attention, and more information about the sensitive factors involved in the event, such as American health insurance, social justice, and illegal sanctions, gradually emerged, leaving people deeply moved.

On the third day of the incident, let’s review together this ‘tragedy of the American health insurance industry’ and gain a different perspective on the love-hate relationship between Meme coins and news.

When a man named Luigi decides to commit murder: the story of the CEO shooting incident

On December 4th, a day set as ‘Constitution Day’ in China, it is just an ordinary day in the United States.

Of course, for UnitedHealthcare, the largest in the United States and the second largest in the world in terms of revenue, this day is not ordinary, because what is about to start is the annual investor conference of this American healthcare insurance giant.

At that time, Brian Thompson, the helmsman of this industry giant and CEO of the company, will share the impressive achievements the company has achieved this year with people from all walks of life. After all, in the 2024 Fortune 500 list, the annual revenue of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company behind UnitedHealth Insurance, reached as high as 3716.22 billion US dollars, ranking 8th in the world, even surpassing Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which is well known to the world, by 7.14 billion US dollars. The previous place is the global technology giant Apple; its market value once reached as high as 560 billion US dollars, covering nearly 50 million American citizens. He certainly has every reason and qualification to be proud of the achievements he and the company have made.

Forbes ranking-United Health Group ranked 8th

At 6:45 am, facing the slightly chilly Manhattan, Brian Thompson was about to walk to the Hilton hotel where the exchange meeting was held, which was not far from his hotel. He did not arrange for security personnel to protect him. Although he had received several death threats before, for him, who had been working at the United Health for 20 years, such threats were commonplace and never taken seriously.

Just as he was casually walking down the sidewalk as usual, an accident occurred - a masked man in a black hooded jacket and a gray backpack suddenly appeared behind him like a ghost, and fired several shots from his 9 mm silenced pistol, hitting him in the back and calf. The man then walked through an alley and quickly fled the scene, where witnesses said he rode an e-bike into New York’s Central Park.

At 6:48 a.m., three minutes after the shooting, the New York police arrived at the scene and found several bullet shells on the ground, inscribed with the words “Deny, Defend, Depose” (some say Delay, Deny, Depose). These three words starting with D happen to correspond to the unwritten industry rules of the American insurance industry when handling insurance incidents - Delay: delaying the claims time; Deny: denying the claim; Depose: interrogating the insured in an attempt to make them give up litigation.

At 7:04, according to the surveillance video, he took a taxi to the bus terminal, and he did not appear again in the surveillance video of the bus station, thus leaving New York.

At 7:12, less than 30 minutes after being urgently sent to the hospital, Brian Thompson was pronounced dead after unsuccessful rescue efforts. The helm of a trillion-dollar business empire has turned into a lone soul under the gun.

With the spread of the news, American society is in a state of heated discussion.

Some people regard it as a ‘blatant murderer’ because it is hard to imagine that such a calm and composed person could commit murder in broad daylight and then flee. Others believe that the ‘shooting of the CEO of the largest insurance company in the United States’ may have hidden motives, as the well-planned attack with a clear target suggests it could be a personal vendetta or something else. Some people think that this incident is just another occurrence of the ‘gun violence incidents’ that are already commonplace in American society, except this time the victim is not an ordinary civilian but the CEO of a giant corporation.

And as time goes on, more and more information has gradually been disclosed:

On December 5th, police investigations found that the gunman had stayed at the HI New York City Hostel in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and had a brief conversation with a female staff member when he registered at the front desk. Specifically, “they were flirting at the time, and then he (the gunman) took off his (mask or other coverings) and showed a bright smile,” according to a comment from a person familiar with the New York police, cited by CBS News.

Gunman talking to the front desk

On December 9th, about 450 kilometers away from New York, at 407 East Altoona Plank Road, Pennsylvania, a McDonald’s store, a McDonald’s employee reported to the police that he found a man wearing a medical mask, a brimless hat, and carrying a bag, who appeared to be the ‘New York street shooting suspect’ according to a customer’s reminder. When the police arrived, they found that his facial features matched those of the suspect and confirmed during questioning that he was the suspect in the ‘12·4 CEO shooting’ case. He was subsequently arrested.

It is reported that the man, Luigi Nicholas Mangione, is 26 years old, and is in possession of a firearm believed to have been used in the shooting of Brian Thompson on the 4th (which was later confirmed to be made by 3D printing, which also corroborates the reason for the previous jam). Police also found a three-page handwritten document in his belongings, in which, Luigi wrote: "To the FBI, I’ll cut it short because I do respect what you have done for your country. In order to save you a lengthy investigation, I make it clear that I am not cooperating with anyone. In addition, he wrote in this handwritten document: “I apologize for any strife or trauma caused, but it must be done.” Frankly, these parasites just deserve it. ”

3D printed ‘weapon’

With Luigi’s arrest, information about his identity and motive gradually came to light, and people realized that the incident was far more than a simple ‘shooting incident’.

When justice and morality collide head-on: the chronic illness of the American health insurance industry VS the claims of patients

The incident has further intensified in the increasingly clear identification information of Luigi Nicholas Mangione, with the focus directly on the current slightly distorted healthcare system in the United States.

According to netizens, Luigi Nicholas Mangione is an Italian-American born in Maryland, USA. He graduated from the prestigious private high school Gilman School (which has an annual tuition fee of up to $37,000) in 2016 and also served as a representative speaker for outstanding graduates. In May 2020, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, one of the Ivy League schools in the United States. He previously studied computer science and minored in mathematics, earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in engineering. He served as the chief counselor in a pre-college research program at Stanford University, and the electronic game development club he founded in college was also selected by the Computer Honor Association. He has interned at a famous 3A game company in the Civilization series and worked as a data engineer at TrueCar, a California-based car shopping website. In 2023, he went to Hawaii to start his digital nomad life.

Later, someone found his Goodreads book list, and the well-known investor and digital nomad advocate Tim Ferriss’s “The 4-Hour Workweek” was prominently listed. In addition, he also wrote a lengthy review of “Industrial Society and Its Future” by the extremist, American mathematician, and infamous ‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski in January this year. He mentioned: “(We) easily and thoughtlessly dismiss this as the manifesto of a madman. But we cannot ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society are…When all other forms of communication fail, violence is a necessary condition for survival…These companies don’t care about you, your children, or your grandchildren… ‘Violence will never solve anything’ is a statement made by cowards and plunderers.” It is worth mentioning that after his arrest, the US police quickly blocked and hid all of Luigi’s social media (but his X platform account @PepMangione was spared due to the long absence of posting), and his Goodreads reviews were no exception.

Luigi’s Goodreads long review

In addition to personal experiences, his family background has also been put under the spotlight. It is discovered that Luigi comes from a well-known local prestigious family. His grandparents were real estate developers, and the family owns numerous properties in Maryland. They also operate multiple senior rehabilitation centers and two country clubs. His cousin, Nino Mangione, is a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates and serves as the Co-Chair of the Trump Campaign Team in Baltimore County. It is worth mentioning that after Luigi Nicholas Mangione’s arrest, Nino Mangione posted on social media, saying, ‘Our entire family is shocked and saddened by Luigi’s arrest. We pray for Brian Thompson’s family and ask everyone to pray for all those involved.’

And weeks before the shooting, Luigi had lost contact with his family. According to his friends, Mangione underwent back surgery a few months ago, but the surgery was not effective, and the back pain caused him a lot of trouble in his daily life. Netizens speculated that he suffered from spondylolisthesis based on his Goodreads bookshelf information.

According to netizens based on information provided by law enforcement officials to The New York Times and other sources, the handwritten declaration carried by Mangione at the time of his arrest may have contained the following content:

To the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I will be as brief as possible, because I respect everything you do for the country. To save your lengthy investigation time, I’ll be blunt: I didn’t collaborate with anyone. This is quite simple: some basic social engineering, fundamental computer-aided design, and a lot of patience.

If you find that spiral notebook with some scattered notes and to-do lists, it can give you a general idea of what’s going on. My electronic devices are well protected because I work in engineering, so there may not be much information there.

I apologize for any conflicts or traumas caused, but it must be done. Frankly speaking, these parasites brought it upon themselves. Just a reminder: the United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet our life expectancy ranks around 42nd. UnitedHealth Group is the [xxx] largest company in the U.S. by market capitalization, second only to Apple, Google, and Walmart. It has been growing, but what about our life expectancy? No, the reality is that these [xxx] have become too powerful, and they continue to abuse our nation for massive profits because the American public allows them to get away with it.

Obviously, the problem is much more complex, but I don’t have enough space to elaborate on it, and frankly, I’m not the most qualified person to discuss it in detail. However, many years ago, many people (such as Rosen Thal and Moore) have exposed this corruption and greed, yet the problem still exists. This is no longer a cognitive problem, but obviously a game of power. Obviously, I am the first person to face it in such a straightforward way.

Judging from his previous “elite resume”, it is difficult not to feel a sense of pity for this speech, and the opposite of this sense of pity is the cruel and ruthless side of the US medical insurance system today.

It is learned that the proportion of healthcare expenses to GDP in the United States has always been significantly higher than that of other countries: according to multiple data summaries, the average hospitalization cost in the United States is as high as $22,500; the appendectomy commonly performed in China costs about $30,000 in the United States, and complex surgeries can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Without medical insurance, ordinary people are simply unable to afford it; and medical insurance in the United States is also difficult for people to easily accept.

A previous Gallup poll found that in 2023, about 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the cost of healthcare in the United States, the highest level in 16 years; KFF research shows that in 2024, the average healthcare cost for American families is $25,572, while the average healthcare cost for unmarried adult citizens is $8,951, an increase of 6% and 7% respectively from the previous year; since 2000, except for a few years, the increase in medical insurance premiums has consistently exceeded inflation.

In addition, a 2023 survey by the American Medical Association found that one-third of doctors reported that the prior authorization model implemented by American medical insurance companies, which requires ‘approval before treatment,’ has led to many patients experiencing severe deterioration. 94% of patients have experienced delayed necessary treatment, 80% of patients chose to forgo treatment, resulting in 9% of patients being disabled or even dying. Not to mention, medical insurance companies also use various reasons, procedures, and claims processes as obstacles, doing everything possible to reduce claim costs or even deny coverage. It’s no wonder that the book ‘Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It?’ by Jay M. Feinman, a professor at Rutgers University, was highly acclaimed when it was published in 2010.

As for the health insurance company with 140,000 employees, according to the financial website Value Pengui’s calculation, its rejection rate may be as high as 32%, with almost one in three customers being denied claims, which is twice the industry average (16%). The reason behind this is closely related to Brian Thompson, who was promoted to CEO in 2021.

It is understood that the rejection rate of United Health Insurance has been increasing since 2021: in 2020, this number was 10.9%; it doubled to 22.7% in 2022. In contrast, the company’s profits are skyrocketing: in 2021, profits were $12 billion; by 2023, this number will increase to $16 billion. You should know that this is the company’s performance in the era of COVID-19. Meanwhile, from 2021 to 2023, Brian Thompson, CEO of United Health Insurance, will receive annual salaries of $10.2 million, $9.8 million, and $9.6 million respectively.

Under the leadership of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealth Group also prepared a plan in 2021 to refuse payment for emergency room fees that it deemed to be for “non-key hospitals”, but it was abandoned due to too much protest. At the 2023 investor conference, it also outlined the company’s preference for reimbursing “valuable care”, i.e. nursing care after hospitalization rather than treatment.

Even more, according to a report from the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in October of this year, UnitedHealthcare has been using AI tools and an algorithm called nH Predict to screen policies, with post-acute care being the most frequently denied coverage, with an acute care denial rate about three times the overall denial rate. At the end of last year, two deceased customers’ families sued UnitedHealthcare, alleging that it intentionally used a flawed algorithm to deny necessary extended care recommended by doctors for elderly patients, with an error rate as high as 90%. A previous investigation by ProPublica also found that UnitedHealthcare effectively reduced or restricted some treatment costs using algorithms, jeopardizing the mental health insurance of many Americans. This practice by insurance companies is considered illegal in California, Massachusetts, and New York.

It should be known that American insurance companies have always been seen as “unbeatable money-making beasts,” and due to their numerous insurance regulations and powerful legal forces, most people can only choose to accept reality after being denied compensation, and only 0.1% of people will appeal against the denial result.

When the cold and cruel social reality meets the seemingly passionate justice sanctions, the “Robin Hood”-like heroic plot undoubtedly touches people’s hearts. This is also the reason why many people, including some American media, focus on the United Health Insurance and the American health insurance system, rather than the “Luigi shooting CEO” incident. Social media platforms such as X, Reddit, TikTok, etc. have been filled with slogans such as “Free Luigi” and “Free the man” in recent days. Some people even fabricated “alibis” for him on news websites and social media. Even more, some people vented their anger on the McDonald’s employee who previously reported and arrested Luigi, and that McDonald’s also unsurprisingly became the target of internet users’ “collective attack” - people gave it one-star reviews on map apps.

This McDonald’s has received a ‘one-star negative review’ due to public anger.

Of course, not everyone will be blinded by this ‘eliminating harm for the people’ passionate idea.

On December 10, Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro publicly condemned Luigi Nicholas Mangione: ‘In some dark corners, this killer is hailed as a hero. Let me tell you, he is not a hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s.’

In addition, screenshots from netizens show that Musk had expressed his opinion on the matter on December 7th: “It’s disgusting, everyone is shaping that guy into some kind of folk hero. Insurance companies, like any other company, have the responsibility to maximize profits for shareholders to the greatest extent, regardless of how ruthless the means are. The radical left who don’t buy into this still have a long way to go in growing up.” However, the tweet is currently not found under Musk’s account, suspected to have been deleted or deliberately manipulated.

Network screenshot

There have also been different network messages afterwards, claiming that Luigi Nicholas Mangione committed this incident due to his mother’s chronic back pain claim or his grandparents’ medical insurance claim event. The specific situation still depends on further investigation by the American police. On December 10th, the New York police charged him with second-degree murder related to the death of the UnitedHealth Insurance CEO, as well as five charges including forgery, false identity, and illegal possession of firearms. However, due to different laws and judicial systems in different states in the United States, it may take several days or weeks to transfer fugitives between states.

Can speculation keep the hotspot alive when cryptocurrency becomes a news “incendiary zone”?

According to GMGN data, as of the time of writing, the protagonist of this event, the token with the same name LUIGI, is currently priced at $0.015, with a market value of about $15 million, a drop of about 80% from the high point of $78 million market value.

LUIGI Token Information

Just like the successful prediction market Polymarket, which predicted Trump’s victory this year, today’s Meme coins have, in a sense, become a “social hot topic indicator”. Previously, the squirrel and related Meme coin PUNT, which were “brutally attacked”, even received high praise from Musk, who said “a squirrel and a Meme coin saved America”. Although it may be somewhat exaggerated, it still affirms the social news value of Meme coins. For example, the Ethereum Meme coin MOODENG, inspired by the famous Tiktok animal star hippopotamus, is also a rare example in the cryptocurrency industry of “Mass Adoption” through subsequent token donations to support charity.

In addition, the heat of the news hotspots is directly reflected in the market performance of a group of cryptocurrencies, including Meme coins. However, for many projects, pure speculative trading is often just a ‘zero-sum game’ in a flash. Whether it can inject new vitality into the news hotspots often depends on the lasting influence of the narrative of a cryptocurrency project.

LUIGI is just the intersection of meme coins and news hotspots. Will there be more projects emerging later? Will meme coins then push similar events in a different direction and have a different outcome? Only time can tell us the answer.

References: Shooting! U.S. Health Insurance CEO Killed in Attack on Annual Investor Meeting*

Arrest the person who shot the CEO | Prism

Shooting of the CEO of the largest American insurance company, suspect dubbed as the modern-day Batman

*The CEO of the insurance giant was shot dead behind a high rejection rate of 32%!