Welcome,

We are excited to offer you the position of Community Member at $DEGEN, a leading innovator in the world of meme coins. Our latest venture, $DEGEN Tips, is designed to bring fun and financial opportunities together in the crypto space.

But first some history about your new workfunplace.....

Recently, I reached out to someone I thought was a $DEGEN employee. An innovative product wanted to connect with $DEGEN for a memecoin showdown to attract liquidity to their platform and reward providers. To my surprise, the well-known community figure informed me they were not part of the team.

This was intriguing because I knew this prominent figure had significantly contributed to $DEGEN's growth in a short timeframe. They were not working for a salary but were instead driven by interest in the airdrop and coins they purchased on the market. Astonishing! Do you know of another industry like it?

Furthermore, as one of the top holders when $DEGEN was first airdropped, I can tell you about a group of large holders who made a pact to not sell early and help the product/community grow. We knew that for $DEGEN to be successful, it required a group effort and proper distribution.

As a tip receiver, you are now part of this unique and thoughtful group. Remember, with trust comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes rewards.

$DEGEN to $1

As an early advocate, I recognized something special in $DEGEN. It is rare to see an opportunity with such reach. This intuition is gathered from multiple threads over many years. It's not easy to see for the regular observer, so I want to break down the opportunity that led to a 1600X gain at all-time highs.

Before diving into the story, let's first explore the word "Degen," which is the "Ape" of this crypto cycle. The word and its identity provoke a visceral reaction. Over the past few years, I've met people ranging from basement dwellers living with their parents to COOs of large blockchain projects. When asked about their entry into the crypto space, many proudly mentioned they were doing "Degen Shit." Conversely, some of the smartest people I know uttered the word with disgust, calling them single-celled organisms. When I see such extreme and polar opinions, I run toward it with force. Almost always, there is something there.

Back in early 2024, Farcaster was in its infancy. Coins were starting to pop up off the back of early meme coin hype from the Solana blockchain, like $BONK and $WIF. The first one I remember was $POINTS, but it was short-lived due to the poor distribution of the airdrop. Some early members even used it to line their pockets by selling tokens like $SPAM.

Channels had just been launched, and people were directed to cast in channels by default instead of the vanilla home feed. The /degen channel rose to be the most active channel and remains one of the top channels alongside /base. Word started to spread about an airdrop to Farcaster users based on their casting history, slightly weighted toward activity within the /degen channel. Unlike previous attempts to gain casters' attention, this was somewhat of a fair launch. $DEGEN was airdropped to users, and it had a slow start. You could buy as much as you wanted for pennies as most were selling the small amount they received.

Shortly after the first airdrop, the founder Jacek announced that $DEGEN would be predominantly a tipping coin, with users given an allowance based on their activity. This allowance was dynamic, with boosts for certain channels like /degen and /founders. The idea was to reward valuable casts with a coin. This took off, attracting mixed reactions. Some dove straight in and went tip ballistic, dropping $DEGEN like rain in Malaysia during the wet season. The Warpcast team leaned into it, adding the $DEGEN logo instead of the like button when $DEGEN was mentioned in a cast. This made some people angry as it was flooding their meticulously curated home feed (later, the same person would invest in the investors round, helping fund development). $DEGEN's price shot up! Many called it a bubble, which eventually deflated when the airdropped tips were distributed.

After the initial rise, $DEGEN started to get attention from sophisticated investors within the Farcaster ecosystem. 1conf approached the founder and acquired a share of the dev-allocated tokens in an OTC deal at a discount to the market price. This was another controversial moment for $DEGEN, as retail was starting to see VCs as arch-nemeses after the damage they had done over the years. Ultimately, 1conf is a different type of VC, providing value to the space and $DEGEN. This was a pivotal moment, boosting $DEGEN and increasing its "legitimacy."

One unique feature of $DEGEN's tipping mechanism was the distribution of token holders. The number of holders increased significantly in a short time. This was a huge plus for $DEGEN and an innovative way to tackle the problem of widespread distribution. As of this writing, it has the third-largest holder base of all tokens on Coinbase's Base chain at 620,080. During the Easter break in April 2024, as $DEGEN tips were distributed for Airdrop 2 Season 3, $DEGEN also launched as an L3, labeled as the casino for Web3. Interest swept through to X, bringing $DEGEN to a high of $0.064. Unfortunately, the hype died down, distribution increased, and the price slowly collapsed.

After distribution, a few other attributes are essential for a token: attention and buy-in. Cobie famously blogged about how crypto is a game of attention.

Firstly, Farcaster as a content platform and an army of contributors like you provide a gateway for new participants to get acquainted with $DEGEN quickly. Never before has there been such reach.

Secondly, Coinbase's Base chain will bring a massive influx of new users. $DEGEN, being one of the most well-known tokens, and the ability to use it in fun ways will entice many as they flow through that funnel.

Farcaster is known for its dev community, which has helped $DEGEN integrate into various applications and attract builders through grant rounds. The buy-in has been astounding for a token less than six months old.

Your role entails having fun on the internet using a new sufficiently decentralized social network. Your content is yours and cannot be rugged from underneath you. Your $DEGEN is independent and yours to use as you like.

You are free to contribute by tipping, building integrations for $DEGEN, and playing games.

It is your responsibility to use $DEGEN for fun!

Yours truly,