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Title: The Phenomenon of Meme Premium and Its Influence on Cryptocurrencies
Meme, as an extremely unique presence in the cryptocurrency field, undoubtedly thrives on the phenomenon of meme premium. How do you perceive Meme?
This article is sourced from the author MATTI and compiled, organized, and written by TechFlow.
(Article)
Summary:
Why do airdrops and memes (MEME) always lead new adoption and speculative cycles?
Background:
The frenzy of abstract MEME coins: Is the Meme hype back again?
Table of Contents:
Speculation as a New Form of Consumption
The Analysis of (3,3)
The Transformation of Memes
In the past bull market, Meme coins, especially Doge, emerged as a true type of cryptocurrency. However, it’s not just Meme coins that are affected by meme premium. In fact, every successful token is influenced by it. I even believe that every product packaged within a brand contains meme premium.
Meme premium is a phenomenon where people give higher value to an idea for the following reasons:
– They see others valuing the same idea.
– They expect more people to value the idea.
Meme premium is an ongoing imitation beauty contest. It is a pure form of speculation that has existed even before humans knew what financial speculation was. As Plato told us through Durant:
“In a world dominated by social media, speculation has become a new form of consumption. Serious things have become entertainment, and entertainment has become serious. We pollute politics with entertainment, turning wars or inflation into spectacles to be watched. Cryptocurrencies are part of this cultural shift.”
In the previous cycle, the “Degen” of cryptocurrencies was depicted as the dark and marginal side of the crypto world, yet it achieved that cycle. NFT art, Meme coins, and yield Ponzi schemes became entertainment. Even the collapse and scapegoating of Three Arrows Capital, Do Kwon, and SBF were widely consumed with a sense of enjoyment.
While the most “serious” crypto investors discuss crypto infrastructure SaaS, the crypto Degen has grown stronger. I believe we are currently in the most spectacular Degen phase in the history of cryptocurrencies. We are going crazy, whether it’s Meme coins, SocialFi, GameFi, or re-staking.
Compared to the previous cycle, meme premium is now more implicit, but in this cycle, it will become completely explicit. Cryptocurrencies will become more Degen than ever before. This might mean that you don’t have to buy Doge to invest in Meme. You can buy any coin because the truth is clear: every coin is a Meme coin.
Analysis of (3,3)
Before, I elaborated that besides brand and subsequent customer demand, there are no fundamentals behind Coca-Cola’s stock. I proposed that trading coins is a form of consumption, just like drinking sugary drinks. Coca-Cola’s stock is merely a sticky Lollapalooza (RIP Charlie Munger).
Munger was not a loyal fan of cryptocurrencies; he referred to them as “cryptoshit” and “cryptocrapo.” Although his infinite wisdom will be deeply missed, his outdated views on what can be bought and sold are not so missed.
Anyway, I believe if Munger were in his 20s or 30s, there would be a chapter in his “Poor Charlie’s Almanack” about meme premium.
Further Reading:
Buffett’s Partner | Charlie Munger Fires Shots: Cryptocurrencies Are “Crazier Than the Internet Bubble,” China’s Ban is Right
I’m just proposing that we use these experimental structures valued in trillions today to update some outdated wisdom. They might be small in scale, and the probability of individual success may be slim, but they are growing. Instead of normatively rejecting them, cynics should try to understand them better. After all, technology is the foundation of social development, and vice versa.
Let’s strive to understand cryptocurrencies as a consumer product rather than normatively opposing their consumption methods. Capitalism is driven by the market, and the market is driven by consumption.
Speculation is also a form of consumption. Every brand in the world relies on meme premium. The narrative that dominated OlympusDAO in 2021, (3,3), clearly expresses meme premium.
This is where we find ourselves on the adoption curve of cryptocurrencies: from memes for the sake of memes to memes with utility (i.e., SocialFi). At this point, I hope we can all agree that most of our tokens depend heavily on meme premium, and that’s not a bad thing.
In this cycle, memes will be monetized directly, reducing the demand for investing in meme coins. Memes, as a coordination tool, are priced as a social game. If we see the value of stupid meme coins shift towards smaller coordination experiments with “infinite” upside potential, I wouldn’t be surprised.
The equivalent of our DeFi summer might be a meme summer wrapped in the narrative of SocialFi (currently, the Blast season seems to be a Shilling point). Instead of investing in an overplayed meme like Doge and its derivatives, people might participate in various purposeful games.
After all, money is a coordination game, and price is a signal. OlympusDAO’s (3,3) showcases memes with everything: GameFi, SocialFi, and a serious attempt at utility. It’s a true Meme coin, even more important than Doge.
Because if you only see a Meme coin as a Meme coin, then the power of this crowd of idiots is destined to be short-lived.
Pricing memes has always been the alchemy of finance. Memes in the era of market geniuses are different. From the invention of derivatives to Meme coins, finance has been evolving as the market spreads into the boundless digital world.
Harnessing the power of crypto means understanding reflexivity, not just in the form of rising or falling prices but in the form of prices transforming fundamentals. The world can change with market changes. Meme premium is potential energy that can be transformed into momentum.
The late 2020s and early 2030s might be the golden age of meme value-oriented hedge funds in crypto, embracing the reflexivity inherent in digital assets. Cryptocurrencies may have been denying themselves for some time, but only when we accept their true nature can we maximize their real value.
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