In just a few months, Base has rapidly risen from a relatively unfamiliar Layer 2 project to a leader in the Ethereum-compatible ecosystem, with a Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding $3.85 billion, surpassing Arbitrum and Optimism, and becoming the most competitive new giant in the Layer 2 market. With strong backing from Coinbase and support from North American capital, the Base ecosystem has experienced explosive growth in 2024, with inflows in November surpassing Solana, making it one of the hottest wealth tracks in the blockchain field. However, despite Base's significant achievements in capital inflow and ecosystem growth, its on-chain transaction volume has not yet surpassed Solana, indicating that while expanding rapidly, Base still faces the dual challenges of sustained growth and market competition.

Taking market value as an example, the market capitalization of Clanker’s CLANKER token has reached $70 million, reflecting the immense appeal of the Base ecosystem and the current craze. Unlike traditional VC coin strategies, the rise of Meme tokens has reversed the on-chain data and user trading behavior to drive exchange listings, forming a new ecological model. Users accumulate chips on-chain and then utilize exchange liquidity to exit, pushing centralized exchanges (CEX) to the corners of the market. This is a strong indication of the true beginning of a bull market, similar to the on-chain liquidity phenomenon that erupted during the DeFi Summer of 2020. This innovative mechanism showcases the vitality of the Base ecosystem while also exposing the challenges it still faces in market competition.

Comparison of on-chain data between Base and Solana on Artemis

The relationship between public chains and ecological projects is like a couple dancing together, inseparable and mutually supportive. Whether Base, as a public chain, can leverage AI Agents and Meme culture to break through the $4 billion TVL barrier and become a market leader remains an unresolved challenge. At the same time, ecological projects like Clanker and Virtual Protocol must find fertile ground for growth within the Base ecosystem and rise with market enthusiasm, which is also worth watching. Clanker and Virtual Protocol are representative projects in this round of Base's craze; the former is a "machine for creating popular Memes," while the latter spans from GameFi to AI infrastructure to consumer platforms. Although they have different development paths, both have seized market opportunities and become focal points. Through the rise of these projects, we see the appeal of the Base ecosystem and the current market craze, showcasing the deep entanglement of interests and tacit understanding between public chains and projects. Although the scenery is boundless, it is still filled with the driving forces of business and market interests.

Clanker: The "Hit Meme" Machine of the Base Ecosystem

Clanker is like a crazy invention that has crossed over from "Rick and Morty," becoming a reality in the laboratory of the Base public chain—it is an AI Agent full of quirky ideas, focused on turning ephemeral creativity into real-world Meme tokens using social media and smart contracts. Imagine, like Rick, casually waving your hand, and @clanker directly deploying an ERC-20 token on Farcaster, complete with a liquidity pool and smart lock-up features—this is not just a technological magic trick, but a carnival of decentralized narrative. Clanker simplifies the operational process, relying on the Clanker.sol contract to achieve the minting of ERC-20 tokens, initialization of Uniswap V3 pools, liquidity injection, and locking. Users only need to make a simple request on Farcaster to easily complete the deployment and distribution of tokens, and it has already created multiple Meme tokens with market capitalizations exceeding $10 million. It breaks down technical barriers, giving everyone the opportunity to become a creator in the Meme economy, while also generating tangible benefits for the community through a 40% fee-sharing mechanism.

Clanker Technical Implementation Flowchart

However, this carnival is not just for entertainment. Clanker is exploring how to integrate the concept of DeSci (Decentralized Science) into its system. For example, future tokens may no longer just be about humor or sentiment but could carry functions for research funding, sharing experimental results, or supporting open-source tools. Just as Rick uses his spontaneous inventions to solve cosmic problems, Clanker's tokens might become experimental tools in the scientific community, providing new funding models for scientists while reshaping the academic trust system with on-chain transparency. This combination of DeSci and Meme is not only refreshing but also opens up an unexpected future for blockchain applications.

Clanker is such a crazy and creative laboratory, constantly expanding the boundaries of Web3 amidst laughter and innovation. Who knows, the next industry it rewrites the rules for might just be science?

Performance of the market capitalizations of CLANKER, LUM, and ANON tokens

The issuance stories of the three major tokens CLANKER, LUM, and ANON, especially the combination of ANON with the anonymous posting tool anoncast, have even attracted the attention of Ethereum founder Vitalik. It is also worth noting that the birth of the AI Meme Luminous ($LUM) stemmed from an inspirational collision within the Farcaster community, where a user proposed the bold idea of creating a token symbolizing the collaboration between humans and AI: with intertwined blue and gold light streams representing AI and human consciousness, forming an infinite loop, while the deep space background conveys a sense of technology and futurism. Through the Clanker platform, this idea was quickly realized, with the entire process of token minting, Uniswap V3 pool initialization, liquidity injection and locking, and the design of a 40% transaction fee rebate mechanism being automated. $LUM not only lowers technical barriers with its simplified operational process but also quickly attracts community attention through its narrative theme of "human and AI collaboration" and artistic visual design, becoming a cultural symbol within the Base ecosystem. Leveraging strong community dissemination, $LUM has surpassed a market capitalization of $30 million from inspiration to realization.

On one hand, Clanker, as an innovative platform, greatly reduces technical barriers by simplifying user operations (such as generating tokens directly through @clanker) and collaborating with AI to issue tokens, allowing anyone to participate in the creation and dissemination of Meme tokens. On the other hand, observers cannot help but question whether the Clanker model can be sustained. As a "crypto-ified" project, its current model focuses on hype and dissemination, lacking actual "use" scenarios. I would like to invoke the thoughts of cultural anthropologists, suggesting that in reality, a culture is neither a purely physical process nor a purely idealistic construct. It is a living entity rooted in the soil of life, encompassing the simple instinctual lives of shepherds, fishermen, and farmers, as well as the highest achievements of artists and philosophers; just as individuals tightly integrate the nourishment and reproduction of animal life with higher rational and intellectual activities. As the world shifts from the tangible to the intangible, Clanker may not only be a technical tool but more so the core engine of innovation and cultural dissemination within the Base ecosystem, gradually promoting community interaction and the release of creativity.

Virtual Protocol: An Inspirational Startup Story in the Crypto Space

Although part of the Base ecosystem, Virtual has chosen a completely different path: focusing on product-driven development, emphasizing the connection between AI and Web2 users, and gradually building a high-frequency "use" tool system. The views of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and A16Z co-founder Marc Andreessen point out the unique advantages of the Virtual team in high-frequency trial and error. From PathDAO to Virtual Protocol, the team has spent three years crossing from GameFi and AI infrastructure to consumer DApps, achieving a miracle of growth from a market capitalization of $10 million to $1 billion.

Early GitHub of PathDAO and Twitter of the ecosystem leader

Virtual includes a diverse product line, including modules like MyShell's App Store. Although the market capitalization and usage of individual products do not match Clanker's Meme tokens, they have opened up space in the Web2 tool scene. $VIRTUAL is the native token of the Virtual Protocol platform, designed specifically for the AI agent ecosystem. Users need to use $VIRTUAL to purchase AGENT tokens (such as $LUNA) and cannot exchange them with other tokens, making $VIRTUAL the only channel for entering this ecosystem and purchasing and investing in AI agents. The VIRTUAL token plays a key role in the entire system, driving economic activities within the platform and ensuring decentralization and fair distribution. Most agents on the platform are intellectual property agents representing specific personalities or characters, such as virtual beings, frogs, emojis, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, etc. Meanwhile, developers are also creating functional agents to enhance user interaction with AI virtual beings and ensure they can seamlessly integrate into the virtual world. These agents can not only generate real income but also achieve long-term growth and shared ownership through tokenization mechanisms. Participants can share the potential returns brought by agents by holding $VIRTUAL tokens and purchasing $LUNA tokens.

However, Virtual has faced skepticism from Degen regarding whether its "usability" has led to a "misplaced focus" on tool-like products. As a cryptocurrency ecosystem project, its core is "use," rather than "speculation," but does this mean it has lost its value in dissemination?

Clanker: The "Rebel" of Liangshan

Clanker is more like Song Jiang, who was forced to rise in rebellion at Liangshan Marsh, using his organizational skills and communication effects to allow a group of grassroots heroes to carve out a place for themselves in chaotic times. By creating hot Meme tokens, Clanker has attracted the attention of a large number of cryptocurrency users, fostering a frenzied market atmosphere, much like Liangshan's slogan of "acting on behalf of heaven," spreading the ideology of rebellion throughout the world.

However, the problem is that Liangshan's banner ultimately turned out to be just a slogan, lacking long-term support. Many tokens issued by Clanker have high market values but remain at the conceptual level, without solid use cases. This model resembles Liangshan's desperate attempts to survive in chaotic times, continuously expanding influence through "speculation," but it may not be sustainable in the long run.

Virtual: The "Pacification Faction" of Liangshan

In contrast, Virtual's path resembles the pacification faction within Liangshan Marsh. Their core demand is not rebellion but rather to ensure that their brothers have food and drink, pursuing stability and order. Virtual focuses on refining product functionality, empowering users through AI tools, and bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3, much like Liangshan's efforts to maintain its "legitimate status" after accepting the imperial court's pacification.

Virtual emphasizes "use" rather than "speculation." Although its tool-like products are frequently utilized, they lack the dissemination effect typical of cryptocurrencies, similar to Liangshan after pacification, which solved short-term livelihood issues but lost its original spirit of resistance. This model may offer more stability in the short term, but whether it can sustain the ideological value of cryptocurrencies remains uncertain.

Ideological Resistance vs. Compromise for Livelihood

The core contradiction of the Liangshan uprising lies in the struggle between the ideology of resistance and the reality of survival. Song Jiang's "acting on behalf of heaven" represents the spirit of rebellion, while the eventual pacification is a choice to find a realistic home for his brothers. This transformation showcases the conflict between ideals and reality—ideals are about resistance, while reality is about compromise.

Similarly, the divergence between Clanker and Virtual reflects another contradiction within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the opposition between "speculation" and "use," which actually reveals a deeper issue in cryptocurrency: as BTC and ETH gradually gain mainstream acceptance and enter an era of reserve and compliance, is there a need for more product innovation or stronger ideological dissemination? Just as Song Jiang lamented while overlooking the military camp from the mountain: "Since we are bandits, how can we not submit to the court? If we cause chaos, it is only to seek a stable life; how can we remain rebels forever?" This statement aptly expresses the journey from resistance to realistic compromise and provides a mirror for us to contemplate the future of cryptocurrencies.

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