MEME Madness: Crypto Consumption Downgrade, A Pinduoduo-style Victory
False Mass Adoption: ZK, AA wallets, games, social; True Mass Adoption: MEME dog.Author: jiucaidog, Deep Tide TechFlow
The editor has a poor memory, but vaguely remembers that during the crypto bear market of 2022, crypto VCs were envisioning the next bull market narrative, with the following general speculations:
- Ethereum is the engine of the bull market, the most certain;
- ZK technology brings significant scaling to L2, and on-chain infrastructure is entering a mature phase;
- AA wallets and MPC wallets lower the entry barrier for ordinary people into the crypto world;
- Gaming and social applications will lead to mass adoption;
…
With these beliefs, even in a bear market, many VCs continued to bet on Ethereum infrastructure like ZK/L2 with valuations over $1 billion, believing that such investments have extremely high certainty.
Is there any problem with this investment decision?
Actually, there isn't. Just like around 2016, Alibaba fully bet on consumption upgrades and new retail. Under normal circumstances, it was reasonable to speculate that residents would become wealthier and willing to buy more expensive products.
Crypto VCs had the same idea, betting on the consumption upgrade in the crypto world, more cutting-edge technologies, and real mass adoption, as well as user cognitive upgrades; after all, the world always moves forward.
But reality is often absurd, and as everyone knows, consumption did not upgrade. Instead, Pinduoduo, which bet on consumption downgrades, moved from outside the fifth ring to the center stage, even surpassing Alibaba in market value, completing the flip.
Just like the crypto world's MEME dog coin WIF surpassing Ethereum L2 ARB, it is equally shocking.
In the crypto world, a more blatant "consumption downgrade" is unfolding.
The ZK technology improvements and large-scale applications that crypto VCs anticipated have not materialized; funds began to pivot from Bitcoin MEME inscriptions, igniting the bull market, and extending to the full explosion of the Solana ecosystem MEME.
Does the crypto world need a better experience? Theoretically yes, but in practice, it’s not that important.
In 2017, everyone traded on fast centralized exchanges, then transitioned to expensive and slow DEXs in 2020. During this cycle, many retail investors simply participated in inscription trading using EXCEL in WeChat groups, very primitive but extremely joyful.
In 2017, retail investors were participating in new ICOs on beautifully designed websites; now, they just need to post an address on Twitter to receive tens of millions of dollars within half an hour.
In the past, an NFT/MEME project aimed to "get things done," developing games and products, emphasizing landing; now, retail investors are urging projects, "Please, don’t do anything, don’t land, just make MEME and float in the air," and even oracles actively delete the "prophecy" (price feeding) function to join the MEME ranks.
Previously, a project needed to struggle for funding, frequently change narratives, work late on products, and seek connections to get listed on exchanges, enduring three years of hardship, ultimately valued at less than $100 million, facing community backlash; now, a MEME project can achieve a $1 billion market cap in three days without a website, quickly launching on Binance… so, what is the meaning of effort?
So, where exactly did things go wrong?
I believe the market is always right.
The consumption downgrade in the business world is due to demand, meaning the common people's wallets haven't kept up, and the middle class is sluggish.
In the crypto world, the consumption downgrade is a complete misalignment of supply and demand.
In terms of supply, what truly valuable infrastructure and consumer applications can we present today? After so long, what has zero-knowledge proof proven?
In terms of demand, the wealth effect remains the primary driving force; trading is the real necessity, the simpler, the easier to understand.
Under these conditions, MEME has taken on the responsibility of mass adoption in cryptocurrency, with no cognitive barriers, no product promises, culture and community cannot be valued, chips are dispersed, and fair competition allows anyone, whether retail investors, money laundering whales, or exchanges/market makers, to profit from it…
The high-performance public chain Solana, known for its low transaction fees, is an important infrastructure for MEME.
Solana's rise is also a Pinduoduo-style victory; cheapness is king.
Stake Pinduoduo, understand Pinduoduo, embrace Pinduoduo.
So, will the crypto world always be filled with MEMEs and chaotic dog coins? Of course not; the crypto world will eventually see true mass adoption, but not now.
Remember, in this cycle, MEME is the real mass adoption; even the popular AI coins are essentially MEMEs dressed in AI clothing.
Solana and Robinhood will be important MEME infrastructures in this cycle.
In this cycle, every serious project should have a CMO (Chief Meme Officer).
As the Dogecoin father Elon Musk said, "Whoever controls the MEME controls the world."
