Author:TPan
Compiled by: TechFlow
A few weeks ago, a talk by Token2049 went viral on the X platform, garnering over 1.4 million views and tens of thousands of interactions: Murad’s Memecoin Supercycle Talk.
Note the ratio of likes to bookmarks, it’s crazy!
Key points from Murad’s speech:
Memecoin, both old and new, outperforms all other tokens.
Tokens are overvalued before listing due to the involvement of various parties (founders, venture capitalists, angel investors, centralized exchanges, market makers, KOLs, etc.), which ultimately leads to retail investors becoming exit liquidity.
Memecoin has proven they "work" with DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, and WIF. I am by no means a Memecoin supporter, but I documented what PEPE and WIF were like in their early stages and why they were interesting.
The cryptocurrency industry is actually a token production industry disguised as a software production industry.
Memecoin is distributed in a more organic, decentralized, and equitable way. Poor holders become unpaid full-time evangelists.
What retail investors ultimately care about is making money, having fun, and a sense of belonging.
All tokens (technical or meme) are tables in a casino. “Why should we play at your table when we can have our own?”
There are also external factors to the Memecoin supercycle: inflation, AI replacing jobs, income inequality, loneliness, mental health issues, more time online, and fewer avenues to “success.” It’s called: financial nihilism.
Altcoins are not primarily about technology, and Memecoins are not primarily about Memes. Both are tokenized communities that attract people and drive prices up through different narratives and technologies.
The best memes become a culture, even a mini-religion, with shared values, lifestyle principles, ideals, ideologies, artwork, activities, hopes, and visions.
Like it or not, this talk provides a useful framework for understanding why memecoins have become a major topic and may be far from peaking. So put aside your preconceptions and go watch it if you haven’t already.
Beyond that, Murad’s rapid-fire speaking style and quick flipping through slides almost make you feel like you’re trading Memecoin, watching the price chart quickly go up and down.
Where will Memecoins go next?
Untokenized memes have established themselves as mediums of communication, cultural units, and composable pieces of content. They dominate social media feeds, create overnight celebrities (e.g. Hawk Tuah girl transformed into Haliey Welch), and enter mainstream media.
Therefore, the tokenization of memes is a natural evolution. After all, all types of content and assets are being tokenized, from written content, car ownership, treasuries/commodities, all the way to digital collectibles and art.
But what’s so interesting about Memecoins besides the usual features?
Memecoins for Good
Vitalik Buterin
One strategy for Memecoin to gain recognition is to send some of the tokens to well-known figures. If a Memecoin is launched on Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin is usually the preferred target.
Yesterday, Vitalik converted several of his token holdings into ETH and donated $642,000 to charity, noting that Memecoin has the opportunity to play a positive role beyond enriching holders and speculation.
vitalik.eth：
I am grateful to all Memecoins who have donated a portion of their token supply directly to charity.
(For example, I saw ebull donating a lot of tokens to various groups last month)
Any tokens sent to me will also be donated to charity (thanks moodeng! Today's 10 billion will be used for anti-airborne disease technology), however, I would prefer that you send it directly to charity, or even set up a DAO to allow your community to directly participate in the decision-making and process.
I’ve said before that I think the best direction for Memecoins is the one that brings the most positive impact to the world, so it’s great to see this actually happening!
This is not the first time he has done this, he donated $1 billion SHIB in 2021 to support COVID relief in India.
Pump.science
pump.science is a platform developed by Molecule, a platform for funding early-stage research in decentralized science (desci) that combines Memecoin and prediction market mechanisms.
Pump.science specializes in longevity research in worms using low-cost, rapid testing methods (more information on the testing methods can be found here ).
How does it work?
Researchers can submit drug strategies to be listed on Memecoin startup platform pump.fun
When the token market value reaches $10,000, the live broadcast of the experiment will begin
Users can speculate on the effectiveness of the tested compounds by buying and selling tokens.
While pump.science hasn’t attracted as much attention as the average Memecoin, the three-week-old platform is introducing new mechanisms for engagement, drawing attention to its field, has clear socially positive benefits, and may create some reward systems to align interests.
Memecoin Marketing and Sponsorship
Cryptocurrencies are no stranger to launching splashy marketing campaigns and sponsorships (mostly in the sports space), some of which are still ongoing to this day.
Coinbase signed a 4-year, $192 million sponsorship deal with the NBA in 2021
Crypto.com Signs 20-Year, $700 Million Deal for Naming Rights to Los Angeles Lakers Arena
Multiple F1 teams are sponsored by various crypto companies including ApeCoin, Binance, OKX, Bybit, Sui, and Kraken
Before the collapse, FTX owned the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena and was a sponsor of Formula 1
VeChain is the official blockchain partner of the UFC, and you can’t miss the logo displayed inside the Octagon during the matches
These sponsorships make sense, as the above examples show billion-dollar companies advertising to massive audiences. But what about a Memecoin?
Earlier today, the APU Memecoin community announced a partnership with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) that will see the APU (a spinoff of the Pepe character) logo displayed at tournament venues and other locations.
Notably, one individual in the APU community covered the cost of the sponsorship alone, suggesting that they may benefit quite a bit from the extra attention that the sponsorship brings.
Additionally, Emily Lai noted that when she arrived in London, she noticed that the Memecoin community was heavily adopting guerrilla-style wild post marketing strategies.
If you find NFTs graffitied on walls or stickers stuck on street poles annoying, I’m sorry to tell you that this may just be the beginning (example: there’s still a wallet holding $650,000 planned to put WIF on the Las Vegas Sphere).
What can non-speculators do about this?
Memecoins can elicit a visceral reaction from some in our industry, which is somewhat ironic since people outside the industry generally have similar reactions to the space.
The simple answer to this is: do nothing. Take a deep breath, let it happen, and accept the fact that memes have and will continue to reach billions and more. Let them do their thing because there is no need to be against it or hate it.
The more detailed answer is to be grateful. Why?
NBA Top Shot attracted a large number of new users, with more than 80,000 unique buyers in February 2021 alone. Many users eventually turned to NFTs, and some of them later became entrepreneurs, creators, or contributors to the ecosystem. I am one of those who came here for speculation and potential huge gains. Over the years, I have met many people who have similar experiences as me.
Love it or hate it, Memecoins are bringing a new group of users and classes to our world, which may confirm the hypothesis of a Memecoin super cycle.
Some of them are using a crypto wallet for the first time (luckily, the experience is better). Some are learning about slippage and conversions. Some may lose money and decide that crypto is indeed a scam.
Some people will stay and wonder what else is going on in this crazy world. This is when the Memecoin Super (Onboarding) cycle begins.
