#359: In Defense of Memecoins
PLUS: 🖋️ Signing off with a name
In Defense of Memecoins
The last week was a rough stretch for everyone (myself included for R&D purposes 😉) in the memecoin trenches, and well deserved.
What initially seemed like a country launching a hyped memecoin turned into a rapid unraveling of insiders, bribery, and a game that has become rotten leaving many participants high and dry.
Although many memecoin traders had an idea of how rigged the casino was deep down, this was a warranted and timely wake-up call from the fever dream that got wacky thanks to TRUMP.
As the dust settles with the Libra x Kelsier scandal that may take months to play out, there has been a lot of healthy discourse about memecoins, warts and all. And despite all the shit stains, I still see memecoins as a half glass full primitive and onramp for mainstream audiences to enter crypto and web3.
One insightful take about memecoins comes from Mannay, laying out the distinction between memecoins and shitcoins. It’s easy to lump all of these variations into the general ‘memecoin’ term. And as many have painfully learned, they’re not the same.
It’s sorta like ice cream, a classic dessert we all know and love. There’s a lot more than just ice cream though: gelato, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt, soft serve, frozen custard, keto ice cream, dairy-free ice cream, and ice cream made with all the milks under the sun (almond, coconut, oat, goat…you get the point 🍦).
Ice cream is tasty, but let’s be honest. As you go down the list of 162 alternatives, many of them are nasty.
Mannay’s article is worth reading in its entirety, but this segment highlights the key difference between memecoins and their rigged derivatives:
Web3 transforms memes into self-sovereign assets, and communities monetize their cultural labor. Memes become tradable equity, governed by decentralized communities rather than corporate algorithms. This shift is actually revolutionary as memes transition from ephemeral content to durable cultural capital. For example, PEPE reclaims the Pepe meme from Web2’s co-optation, enabling holders to “own” a fragment of internet history.
This shift transforms memes from ephemeral content into durable cultural equity, governed by decentralized communities rather than corporate algorithms. Genuine memecoins follow a Darwinian trajectory that's basically:
Birth: A meme is tokenized, often as satire
Growth: Communities weaponize humor and nostalgia to build social capital
Maturity: Successful memecoins develop parasocial utility (holders invest not just for profit, but identity)
Legacy: Memecoins either fade (most) or evolve into cultural symbols / folklore. Dogecoin’s endurance, for example, stems from its philanthropic mythos
Shitcoins bypass this lifecycle. They are financial zombies—devoid of narrative, replicating only through predatory tactics & pump-and-dumps. Their lack of cultural scaffolding ensures ephemerality.
What else has me still optimistic about memecoins?
Memecoins ➡️ Culture coins
Peter of 1kx shares his thoughts on how the next stage for the evolution of memecoins will be Culture coins, maintaining long term cultural relevance and have the ability to onboard more holders and supporters over time.
He also calls out brands that have longterm plans, including Pudgy Penguins’ PENGU. Beyond the Pudgy Penguin brand’s continued efforts to push into mainstream culture, they have found other forms of utility, such as a method of payment.
Today, Helio (crypto checkout solution) announced that PENGU is now a payment option for Shopify merchants who accept Solana Pay. One of those merchants is the Pudgy Penguins store.
Memecoins incorporated into games
Memecoins can also be used as a form of in-game currency while facilitating novel game mechanics, and Infected.fun is a great example of this.
There are 30 viruses and each is a memecoin
Each virus has supply of 100B, which is bought and sold on a bonding curve
When supply reaching 67B, will be listed on Uniswap
Wallets with at least 0.005 ETH (~$14) are considered ‘live’
Each wallet can only be infected by one virus at a time, the token with highest amount in wallet is the virus the wallet is infected by
Infecting = sending min 1000 tokens
Each wallet can hold more than one virus token
Super Spreaders - top 3 spreaders of a virus, earn a 👑 badge in game
Each virus has its own chat room, each user has a virus tag next to their name set by checking which virus you hold the most of
Virus that has infected the most wallets wins the game
The 1.5% trading fee from the tokens goes to a pot and is distributed to the winning virus holders and its Super Spreaders
66% for token buyback and burn of the virus token
34% for top 3 Super Spreaders of that virus
First Infector reward
If you infect a wallet first, you earn a 1% referral fee on their future purchases
Referral fee applies to any virus token regardless of the initial token you infect with
Speculation will be a natural part of this memecoin-infusedfected (hehe) game, but the high supply of 100 billion tokens per virus token and affordable price of 1,000 tokens costing ~$0.001 make Infected less about making a 100x and more about social coordination and game theory.
Memes are viral after all, and there’s no better representation of memecoins than onchain viruses 😷
Alternative ways to launch memecoins
With the rigged nature of high-profile memecoin launches brought to light, builders are exploring alternative ways to launch memecoins and one of them is Yapster, which I featured recently.
The mobile app focuses on fairer launch mechanics, crowd participation, and quality over quantity.
The Yapster team has continued to tinker with the game mechanics in the hopes of creating a winning meme that breaks into the mainmemestream consciousness:
Running a game every other day (will return to daily games in the future)
Introducing a sudden death ranked-choice feature for the top 3 memes from the final round
Topic Mode to facilitate the creation of higher quality meme submissions
Added Audio Rooms to incite more chaos lol
Apps like Yapster leverage memecoin launches as a key feature, but not the only feature, and there will be more variations of this as people want to have fun on top of the potential to make a buck.
If you want to check out Yapster, I have a rare invite code for one lucky person, enjoy! UEOPW3
There are plenty more examples where memecoins can be more interesting and fun than the negative headlines of late (deservedly so!). Brighter pastures lie ahead.
Signing off with a name
Over the past couple months, I’ve noticed certain X accounts have been ‘signing off’ each of their posts with a name. A few examples of what this looks like:
Sisyphus
A crypto shitposter who comments on various industry trends and headlines, they sign off almost every post with Hyperliquid since the DeFi-focused blockchain launched.
Some recent examples, with literally hundreds more if you scroll down their profile:
Newsy Johnson
Another crypto shitposter, they sign off with their own name after every post.
Yapster
We also see this from product accounts like Yapster who can pull this off because of their ability to blend in shitposts with more serious product-related updates.
With these examples we see 3 types of applications of the signoff:
Sisyphus: individual signing off with a product
Newsy Johnson: individual signing off with their own name
Yapster: product signing off with their own product name
These signoffs are a meme more than anything else, and with enough repetition they are adopted by others and become a form of subliminal brand marketing:
Is this a tactic everyone should adopt? It’s an art, but it could be worth exploring how owning a signoff can augment a personal or brand account if you’re willing to go through the repetition and a potential cringe period.
I’ll be at ETHDenver next week, so no posts from me. Enjoy the break!
When they sign off their tweets with a name, why don't they use hashtags? Is using hashtags now considered too tacky?