A meme coin called HERO has gained attention in recent days, created in honor of a man who helped disarm one of the two attackers during a deadly assault at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, over the weekend.
The token briefly reached a market value of $1.7 million. The team behind the initiative says that the project will donate all creator royalties to support the victims following the attack.
HERO launched to support Bondi victims
A grassroots initiative has gained momentum following the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on Sunday, which resulted in 15 people losing their lives and at least 42 others being injured.
A person known as DefiANT on X launched the HERO meme coin in honor of Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner who managed to disarm one of the attackers during the incident.
According to DexScreener, HERO runs on Solana and currently has a market value of $180,000. The meme coin was created via Pump.Fun and reached a peak of nearly $1.7 million in market value. Although the meme coin was launched on the same day as the attack, the original developer withdrew from the project and left it later.
Since then, the community has taken over the responsibility for the token, and DefiANT has become the leading force. The project has evolved into a purely community-driven initiative, where all revenue is dedicated to supporting the victims.
In addition to the token, the team launched a parallel GoFundMe campaign to raise money for those affected by the attack.
According to the fundraising page, nearly 40,000 contributors have raised over $2.3 million. The campaign has set a goal of $3.1 million.
The official HERO website states that donations will be distributed to the victims in several rounds. DefiANT also confirmed on social media that 47,000 Australian dollars have already been donated to people affected by the attack.