Author: JP Koning, Moneyness

Translation: 0xjs, Golden Finance

Cryptopunks wanted to change the world. But we ultimately created memecoins.

Our story begins with some very smart and idealistic developers known as cryptopunks, who created a new technology called blockchain. A blockchain is a database, but it is decentralized. They were touted as "censorship-resistant," thereby reducing the likelihood of users being interfered with by third parties.

Cryptopunks have always hoped that their tamper-proof databases would thrive, become mainstream, and improve the lives of ordinary people. A video from 2015 showcased interconnected power plants, grocery stores, hospitals, and airplanes, then arrogantly claimed that one of today's largest blockchains, Ethereum, would become "the secure backbone for everything from e-commerce to the Internet of Things."

Some of you may remember another famous video from the mid-2010s, where young Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin challenged the audience: "What will you build on Ethereum?" The world responded. Forget interconnected power plants and grocery stores. The most popular things built on blockchain are memecoins.

Memecoins are pure gambling. These worthless tokens are often created anonymously and usually have a mascot or meme loosely associated with them. Some famous examples include Dogecoin, Pepe, HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu, Gigachad, and Dogwifhat. Memecoins do not provide dividends and do not generate any productive activity. Their price entirely depends on subsequent players buying them back at a higher price. The result is a highly unstable pyramid gambling game.

Memecoins do not align with the dreams of cryptopunks, who hoped to create a fairer system where everything, including all high finance (I mean banks, payments, insurance, and investments), had migrated to blockchain paradise. Memecoins are the epitome of low finance. They belong to the same slum as some of the dirtiest members of the financial world: lotteries, slot machines, chain letters, raffles, high-yield investment programs, and other zero-sum games.

Cryptopunks and their allies are disgusted by memecoins. They wish their blockchain could be used for nobler purposes:

• It is siphoning off the energy of cryptocurrency
• It is completely fabricated, a total mockery, a clown show
• In 2024, things hit rock bottom: racist, sexist, and other silly memecoins are merely tools for transferring wealth from the majority to the most detestable people on Earth
• Besides undermining the long-term vision of cryptocurrency that keeps many people in this space, memecoins are also not very meaningful technically

Vitalik also complained, "Even non-racist memecoin prices often just go up and down without providing any value." In search of a glimmer of hope, he urged memecoin creators to donate part of their supply to charity, just as raffles are used to fund charitable causes.

The disappointment of cryptopunks with memecoins is understandable. But I don't think cryptopunks should complain. Guys, what exactly did you think your zero-rule financial foundation would be used for?! Memecoins are the point.

Memecoins as the Fundamental Unit of Blockchain

People are inherently drawn to gambling, but gambling has a bad reputation, and many gambling games have been declared illegal. Memecoins are a good example; they are banned from appearing in official financial venues, including their stock exchanges and commodity markets, as well as their casinos and online betting sites.

In Canada, historically a haven for sordid finance, the closest method to issue memecoins is to go the junior gold route. First, establish a gold exploration company, acquire ownership of some worthless properties in remote areas of Northern Canada, list the company on a junior stock exchange, promote your scam as the next big gold mine, and then sell it to later investors. You basically created a memecoin; an unfounded token.

But this is a difficult way to operate a memecoin. You still need to masquerade as a legitimate company, publish audited financial statements, and hire a board of directors, plus you must provide your real name, which means potential lawsuits or criminal charges. Pure memecoins like Dogwifhat are not burdened by any of these costly real-world obligations and will never obtain a listing license, even on Canada's most disreputable junior stock exchanges.

Enter blockchain, which is essentially anarchic. Blockchain allows people to deploy illegal and unregulated gambling games, and authorities cannot intervene and say, "Hey, you can't do that." With mainstream exchanges and casinos shutting them out, it's no wonder memecoins dominate new media.

If your blockchain does not have a continuous issuance of memecoins, then it is essentially dead. Hordes of crazy gamblers trading meaningless, unproductive currencies signify a thriving and fertile, censorship-resistant financial medium.

As for the cryptopunk idealists complaining about memecoins, they should put aside their pretensions and accept the fact that blockchain may never become "the backbone of everything." Instead, blockchain will continue to serve as the main hub for dirty low finance; things like memecoins and Ponzi schemes simply cannot enter official venues. Many low finance services will be illegal, dubious, or repugnant, as these are the things that need to resist censorship. (To be fair, some banned low finance services are quite useful.)

Memecoins are sometimes described as potential gateway drugs or Trojan horses for broader blockchain adoption. "Once they try Dogwifhat, they won't be able to resist my second voting project." But this is just wishful thinking. Serious and respected high finance services, like insurance and banking—things we need in our daily lives—will necessarily be legal and thus welcomed by mainstream environments, meaning these services and their users will never need to be drawn to the lawless underbelly like memecoins.

What will you build on blockchain? Memecoins. They are the fundamental financial unit of cryptocurrency.

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