New trends in Meme coins: the evolution from social Consensus to on-chain rewards

Meme coins are ushering in their golden age. However, a closer examination of the crypto assets world over the past four years reveals that this is merely a manifestation of the same ideas in different new media. Whether it is social tokens, NFTs, or meme coins, they all have one common point: to monetize shared ideas, assets, or information. Participating in these markets means engaging in the next continuously creating, spreading, and evolving "meta" concept.

The status of Meme coins is quite controversial, as their culture resembles a mechanism that encourages gambling. However, in the online world, mimicking online behavior is a widely popular form of entertainment. Upon closer observation, we can see that this could evolve into a deeper form of engagement for creators and users in terms of participation, ownership, and profit.

User-generated content is a native form of currency on the internet. This content, including Memes, is mainly published and spread on social media platforms. With the emergence of crypto assets, it has taken a step forward. User-generated assets have started to be published and circulated on digital-native exchanges, marking the beginning of a new era of publishing formats. Memes are actually another way to attract attention, a new avenue for distribution and dissemination on web3 platforms.

Despite still being in its early stages, a toolkit for web3 creators is gradually taking shape. For example, mechanisms such as points and airdrops reward the use of the protocol. There is still a lot of room for improvement in airdrop design, such as restrictions on whitelists and release mechanisms, which could give rise to more specific reward mechanisms. Further growth can be driven through existing communities, on-chain referral rewards, and "Token Social Proof".

Meme coins can also be used to bring different communities together or capture a special moment. For example, a certain community recently launched a Meme coin on a platform in a completely permissionless manner. This coin was specifically airdropped to those users who interacted authentically with the relevant platform and community in various forms. This operation allowed them to attract broader attention for themselves by leveraging the traffic of the platform's network.

With on-chain addresses and wallets, this Meme coin can specifically reward those engagement behaviors that are deeper than a simple Mint operation. Holders represent a unique set of wallet addresses that have demonstrated loyalty and participation to the relevant platform and community to a certain extent. Although Meme coins may be ephemeral in nature, they are also effective tools for gaining attention and conducting marketing.

We will see more and more creators and brands rewarding and attracting users through on-chain mechanisms. Your favorite newsletter authors may offer referral rewards to some readers. Additionally, those opinion leaders may airdrop their Meme coins based on the engagement levels in social channels.

Social consensus and narrative building play a crucial role in this regard. We have seen that almost all forms of content aggregation occur on the internet. To this day, the crypto community largely relies on traditional social media platforms to build narratives. However, we have also seen some examples of products being published on-chain, including certain protocols and applications built on these protocols.

With these platforms, Meme coins can become part of the product experience. For example, you can comment on a post on a certain platform, and then the wallet address linked to your account on that platform will receive a certain Token, allowing holders to access specific collectibles or join specific groups. We also see this social behavior appearing in other emerging markets, such as wallets, trading channels of instant messaging software, etc. The publishing platform can use this data to provide a seamless user experience for users of specific protocols or applications.