tldr:

• The number of tokens is trending to infinity

• There is deep lore behind the hunt for the earliest token ($sal)

A month ago, Farcaster was quiet. Then, almost overnight, it transformed. The timeline became the epicenter of AI agents and tokens, driving innovation and speculation. At the heart of this shift lies Clanker, a token-deployment agent that redefined how tokens are created and traded.

And with that, the game began.

The Turning Point

Before Clanker, launching tokens required effort and expertise. Clanker changed everything (on Base), making token creation effortless—an idea could tokenize itself in seconds.

In just two weeks:

• 5,100 tokens have launched.

• Clanker generated $7.1M in fees.

• Token trading velocity skyrocketed—even for non-traders.

Suddenly, token proliferation wasn’t theoretical—it was happening. With the number of tokens on Base trending toward infinity, Clanker’s launch became the inflection point:

• Before Clanker: Fewer tokens.

• After Clanker: Click. Token.

The Cambrian Explosion of tokens had begun. Pandora’s box is open.

Two Key Realizations

1. Picking the right token (early) is almost impossible.

   With tokens trending toward infinity, it’s a needle-in-the-haystack problem. This underscores the importance of Decentralized Token Folios (DTFs)—more on that later.

2. Tokens now have shorter life cycles of attention.

   With new tokens launching continuously, communities engage for less time before moving on to the next.

As a data nerd, I wondered:

If tokens are infinite, could there at least be a definitive first?

Finding the First Token

Initially, I assumed the first token launched by Clanker was $clanker—symbolic and fitting for a new era. But diving into the data on Dune Analytics and BaseScan revealed a more complex story.

Pre-$Clanker Deployments

Before $clanker’s launch, Clanker deployed 14 tokens. Most were obscure—funny names, no liquidity, experimental runs. But a few stood out, with some achieving tradable liquidity.

Key insights:

• The “First Token” is subjective: Is it the first explicitly named token? The first tradable one? The first with liquidity?

• Notable outliers: The earliest token with liquidity appears to be $SAL, based on on-chain activity.

The Finite in the Infinite

While Clanker has launched countless tokens since, the pre-$clanker tokens are finite.

This sparked a thought experiment: Could these pre-$clanker tokens hold value as part of Clanker’s lore? Not as investments, but as collectibles—a finite piece of an infinite story. Out of curiosity, I picked up a few.

The Fun of Speculation

Clanker is more than a tool—it’s an idea. Token creation is now as simple and accessible as posting a thought. The market will speculate, and so will I. What matters is this: Clanker marks the beginning of something endless.

So, what was the first token? That may never be clear. But in this game, it’s the speculation that makes it fun.

Data & Insights

Here’s what I found:

• Spreadsheet of Pre-$Clanker Tokens

• Clanker Token Deployer Address: Tracks all Clanker token launches.

• 14 tokens launched before $clanker.

  • 4 of these tokens currently have liquidity.

  • The earliest tradable token appears to be $SAL.

Cheers to speculation and experimentation. The Cambrian Explosion of tokens is here.