One of the biggest challenges of working in crypto and around onchain apps is the constant propulsion to find the next new thing. Fads come and go as the swarm of attention moves elsewhere.
For a long time, I kept memecoins at arm’s length. I was dismissive — a common reaction to not understanding something.
But as we’ve been discussing unique ways we could help writers build relationships with their readers and make money on Paragraph, it's been hard to totally ignore memecoins. Then, I finally got around to watching Murad's presentation on memecoins from TOKEN2049.
Murad's insights into why memecoins outperformed in 2024 are super compelling. But what struck me most were his frameworks for understanding why the motivations behind why people were investing in memecoins. We saw these same types of motivations in more “traditional” media, across Hulu, Crunchyroll, HBO, and Substack — those same basic motivations are what drove people to become fans of brands, shows, writers / creators, and so on.
What do people care about?
One of the key points Murad makes is that retain investors don't care about the software behind blockchains, onchain apps and products, or any crypto project. They mostly care about making money, but also having fun and wanting to be a part of something.
I love how Murad breaks these motivations down into specific percentages (e.g., 70% of their motivation is driven by wanting to make money). People’s decisions are driven by a mix of motivations. People make decisions for a mix of reasons. If you're building a product — a SaaS / enterprise product, a consumer app, a newsletter, paintings — one of the most important things to do is develop a deep understanding of why people are buying your product, which is often a mix of various reasons.
Hyper-speculation and the desire to make money are undeniably powerful forces in crypto. But as someone building products in this space, I get nervous when financial gain is the only motivator. It feels too zero-sum, like a house of cards waiting to collapse.
That's why I found it especially compelling that Murad introduces motivations beyond purely seeking financial gain: fun & community.
The utility of memecoins
Taking this a step further, Murad offers several ways memecoins provide utility. This is where things really click for me — these are all the reasons why people fall in love with anime shows or the Crunchyroll brand, writers or pieces of writing on Substack, and IP universes like Game of Thrones, Marvel, or Star Wars.
These elements of value helped me understand why people would invest in (buy? participate in?) memecoins. It's a helpful framing for clearly separating out the more software-driven altcoins vs. media- / community-driven memecoins. To be successful, memecoins don't need intrinsic cash flow or revenue share to satisfy investors — they're providing "services", like buying a ticket to a movie.
Now, you could easily make the argument that people aren't driven by the desire to make money when they buy tickets to movies, subscriptions to streaming services & Substacks, and so on. Yes, true, but I think introducing the desire for fans to make money could actually lead to some really interesting creative projects, works of art, and new worlds & forms of media.
And perhaps just a larger economy for creative work — wouldn't that be cool?
Closing ramblings
This is ultimately why I think that percentage allocation across motivations is important. If people invest in memecoins purely for financial gain, many will lose interest quickly; but if they see memecoins as a way to make friends, express themselves, or support ideas they care about, the memecoin cycle / trend becomes more durable — and far more intriguing.
A quick aside: I've been thinking about how memecoins might be part of a broader shift in how younger generations approach "investing".
My parents & other boomers were all about buying a house, the 60/40 portfolio split, and were pretty skeptical of businesses that didn't generate nearly-immediate profits. My generation was among the first to deeply embrace growth stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other riskier alternative investments. Now, younger generations seem to be leaning even harder into asymmetric bets.
With inflation driving up costs and affordability declining, the difference between a $1,000 and $2,000 net worth feels negligible. But the possibility of turning $1,000 into $100,000? That’s deeply compelling.
This is one of Murad's central points in why memecoins have outperformed altcoins: memecoins enable poor HODL’s to get rich, turning them into unpaid evangelists; altcoins only allow a small group of insiders to make money at the expense of "retail" investors.
Don't get me wrong — I still think chasing 100x returns investing in memecoins is incredibly risky and, echoing from above, on of my main concerns is that those purely seeking financial gain are building a house of cards.
What do you think? Are memecoins here to stay? Where do you see product opportunities, if any, to support the continued growth of memecoins (? What do you think of Fred Wilson's "provocation" below?
TikTok turns all videos into memecoins that can be traded on decentralized exchanges all over the world.
For anyone skeptical of memecoins, but open-minded, I highly recommend checking out Murad's presentation. It introduced me to a new way of thinking about memecoins and ultimately made me much more optimistic about their durability — maybe it'll do the same for you.
Talk soon,
Reid
yet to read a convincing case for memecoin utility and it's been a while now since memecoin mania resumed afresh. are we all just lying to ourselves to pump the bags?
What about the original write up for higher?
oh i must have missed that. point me in the right direction?
I think it was @lght.eth https://paragraph.xyz/api/metrics/email-track/click?id=jIQ1awgaIIzBVSp11sM7&linkId=07c79370-7a25-46d5-a8cd-34d90a535d56&url=https%3A%2F%2Fparagraph.xyz%2F%40thenetworkcompany%2Fmatrix but on mirror (can’t find it now. Need to check my notion)
I'm still in your camp, but I tried to convince myself otherwise: https://paragraph.xyz/@reidtandy/on-memecoins-from-a-skeptic I really do think Murad's presentation is top notch. Don't agree with everything in there, but helped me better understand why some folks (lots of my friends!) have gotten swept up w/ memecoins.
Semi-regular Paragraph annoyances thread: If you could change one thing about Paragraph, what would it be?
As a reader I will head to paragraph website to find a publication. eg /thefalsenine I can never seem to find it unless I login. Can you make that a featured publication on home page. Would be super helpful. 😜 Seriously. I can’t easily find stuff to read when I know what I want & when I don’t know. Keep going. Big fan of @paragraph more of a reader than a writer.
Thank you for the feedback! /thefalsenine is a featured publication on Paragraph, so you should see them under "Featured Publications" on https://paragraph.xyz/home. You do need to be logged in — we could think about how to make the discovery feed open to non-logged-in folks. But I actually think a better way to go about this may be to find ways to keep people logged in more easily. If you're logged in, you should see posts from /thefalsenine & tons of other amazing writers on Paragraph on the feed: https://paragraph.xyz/home. We're always thinking about how we can drive better in-product discovery & have a lot of room for improvement — any specific ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated!
You are correct. I stand corrected. 19 clicks to find it✌️
I already reported some issues that have not been addressed yet. * Scheduling a new post in the new UI has no feedback upon click and it still might happen that I click "Post Now" after scheduling because the interface tricks me into behaving iratic. * On Android Chrome with a dark background in the blog, the phones control buttons have a white background. * Disabling collectables globally does not disable collectables when creating new posts ever since the new UI. Every week I have to manually disable collectables in my new posts.
Why did you guys discontinue the article token-gating feature?
Low usage, high maintenance, not a 10X better improvement than existing solutions. It wasn’t how we were going to find product market fit
makes sense what are your top priorities now?
Already had a reply from this but looking forward to updates! https://warpcast.com/samanthaeharvey/0x5cb2eb75 https://warpcast.com/reidtandy/0x434ef159
Better search functions of past blog posts
I miss token gating. Tbh I don't really get how Paragraph is different from substack et all on the web3 dimension other than pieces getting parked on ARweave in perpetuity
What do you miss about token-gating? We loved token-gating as a way to carve out differentiation, but it got very little usage (by readers *and* writers), and generated a large wave of consistent maintenance & issues. Still trying to figure out why & what we could have done differently... very possible we re-introduce it down the road.
I didn't get to the point where I was actually ready to use it tbh . I had an aspiration to use it as a way to have an inner circle for meetups and the like. Big daydream was a sort of revolutionary era tavern of sorts. So perhaps not the most helpful feedback since it was more an inchoate idea I was excited to run a few experiments down the road with rather than something super clear that I knew what to do with or was actively using.
After clicking into an article (or while looking at an author's publications), there does not appear to be a quick way to get back to @paragraph "Home." One can get there via "Dashboard" and another click but wondering if there's a simpler way · 👓 🔵
This is already solved on the new blog/post pages. I’ll DM you to try it out
More posts about wine 🍷
If you don’t like the “make money” consumer value prop for Farcaster—what do you think is better? Reply with a suggestion and rationale. Like replies that resonate.
make a difference
How?
money being a means to an end, there are so many incentives to 90/9/1 real impact that leads to cascade (e.g. popular preference, even lasting social movements)
Buidl with the best
i prefer the earlier messaging, something closer to farcaster is an economy... etc. which is closer to what @horsefacts.eth casted, make money..with a lot of nuance as to how b/c the current messaging implies solely trading alpha or rewards
Intellectually, I agree. But consumers aren’t looking for a new economy…
😂 yeah, i understand why you are running the current experiment!
fax
they're looking for value that emerges naturally from community-driven innovation. the money follows, but it's not the hook
best tech is price go up👍
“Airdrop economy”
Agree with the rationale. But how do you boil this down to a simple enough message? "With a lot of nuance as to how" does not paint a clear picture in my mind the way "make money" does, even though that picture is trading alpha / rewards.
i like these replies https://warpcast.com/whimsi.eth/0x69f33722 https://warpcast.com/links/0x9d26aee1 https://warpcast.com/kdaniels.eth/0xdfe57578
@art had a suggestion https://warpcast.com/artlu/0xa0042100
As a consumer why do I care about open? Web2 networks are open.
I hear you & tend to agree It was Art's suggestion. I don't think it sucks. It wasn't offered in the context of 'value proposition'. All the caveats now aside... Make money comes off as transactional & mercenary. There's something more aspirational to be had from a user's perspective eg becoming a successful entrepreneur before answering the Q, let me confirm the 'positioning' of FC (my QAD word salad): Farcaster is a decentralized, developer-friendly social protocol that enables anyone to build and own their social experience. & the positioning of WC: Warpcast is the first & best way to experience Farcaster, combining the familiarity of Twitter with the intimacy of group chats, giving users more control over their identity and data. We are looking for a value prop for FC so I'd try on these themes: -Own your identity and content—move between apps without losing your followers or history. OR my fav -Build without platform risk—Farcaster is an open social protocol where apps and communities thrive.
/typos @artlu 🤦♂️
Everyone likes to make money value prop If they don’t but are into crypto it’s because either they don’t believe there is more value here than their current Telegram/discord channels or they have someone on farcaster who’s reeling information to them example I’m in a WhatsApp trading group with four friends. I’m only one who’s active here the rest don’t bother cause I just tell them what to do. They’re lazy
"Make money on Farcaster" caused me to block over 100 bots so far this week. You reap what you sow. If you're honest about what this place is, without misrepresenting it, you'll attract the right people. It's certainly not an easy balance. "Come for the rewards, stay for the vibes" - infers monetary rewards but never states exactly what - "stay for the vibes" is the truest part of this statement. All of us wound up staying for the vibes. Whether they were building vibes, positive energy, or finding your tribe. I know people want you to expand and market, but if you cast a net that attracts extractive farmers, what good is that? Why not send an accurate message that attracts fewer better users? (Even if it's not this one) I think farcaster needs to highlight what the average person can achieve here. Not what the average farmer can make.
People are starting to figure out that having a presence on farcaster is about to start being profitable. S9on it will be the standard to airdrop/allow claims for the best users (highest open ranks etc) It's important that we send the right messaging now and align with the best creators. (I know this is happening because I've onboarded more people than ever in the last month)
$VVV airdrop was the first of many Love or hate moxie, the biggest influencers received the biggest claims. Social capital is being cashed directly in here. But we need to attract the right people.
This this this
100% agree that "make money on Farcaster" probably didn't bring in a single account I would follow. I would actually bet money that I don't end up following any account that came from that. A campaign talking about the very legitimate and inherent advantages to the design of the Farcaster protocol? I would bet money that I did follow a user that came in as a result of that prompt.
love the value prop. you just need to prepare the disarming words for "what's the catch?"
Yeah that’s the answer we need to get clearer on. But starting to make progress.
“Contribute to a project you care about… and make money from it” People want to make money, but they also want to participate meaningfully in things they care about. And a lot of people don’t want the pressure of being a solo creator or founder.
I mean make money is pretty vague. I used to make money from degen and ham on Farcaster. Now I make money thanks to friendships I’ve made on Farcaster.
I like the “find your tribe” idea…. Find your circle of people here. Yea, it’s like 90%+ different ways to make $ but it’s all about finding your circles and making connections.
I've been trying to better understand memecoins and why people are drawn to them, and how that could become a durable, rising wave over time. I still don't quite get it & still foggy on how some of this manifests into "products" (at least beyond making it super easy to launch a memecoin and exchanges to buy / sell memecoins), so I'd love to hear feedback! https://paragraph.xyz/@reidtandy/on-memecoins-from-a-skeptic
Yeah I’m in this camp, and think your “closing ramblings” on generational shifts in investing are probably more relevant than the idea that memecoins offer some sort of social utility Still feel like it’s a technology that’s waiting for its breakout use case
For sure... like if you go up one level from the "memecoin supercycle", understanding that a primary motivator is for people to make money, it's interesting to think about the broader wave that can build around a younger generation's unique approach to investing, using money, etc.
If we jump forward 10 years will any meme coin outperform btc or eth? And what I’ve been wondering for years. Will Doge one day go to zero / majorly collapse? Or is it here to stay indefinitely?
I think there's a very reasonable chance a few memecoins outperform BTC & ETH over the next decade. BUT, the vast majority of memecoins won't take off or will flame out back toward 0. I'm thinking it'll be kind of like other pockets of media: there are only a few musicians / bands, TV shows / movies, gaming franchises that truly breakout and become enormous.
I don’t mean a coin valued at 1 today that’s so cheap that it can obviously grow more percentage wise. But let’s say doge or any of the top 10 meme coins today. Can they really self sustain long term?
https://warpcast.com/kyletut/0x75509da7
It's true & kinda hilarious.
I too was (and maybe still am) optimistically skeptical about memecoins, but I think they have the potential to totally change how we think about community building. If you view them beyond pure financial speculation, they become something entirely new: tools for community-driven funding and social-first financial experiences that feel more like joining a movement than using a financial product.
Totally - that's the part I'd like to spend some time brainstorming / imagining how this comes to fruition. Like how does this show up in products we use, IRL, etc. I remember a few years ago there was a lot of hype around "creator tokens". The memecoin waves feels more powerful and sustainable that that, so curious to see where it goes...
I wrote a full-throated defense of memecoins that you might find interesting. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-memecoins-matter-213328434.html I tried to sketch out where I think it’s all headed. Goes beyond Murad’s presentation and introduces some new concepts like PolicyFi.
This is excellent stuff - thanks for sharing. Another recent example of the positive impacts of memecoins: https://x.com/blader/status/1872302462629286220?s=46
Memecoins are a powerful tool for aggregating viral capital. How we direct that superpower is entirely up to us.
Really like your grounded take on memecoins and their reliance on hype over utility. While they often reflect speculative behavior, its interesting how their popularity seems to show that value today is often created by group stories and shared beliefs. Do you think this could ever lead to something meaningful, or are memecoins just a zero-sum game?
Memecoins attract due to community culture, humor, and hype. Their value grows from social influence, not intrinsic utility. @reidtandy