At TOKEN2049 in Singapore, how did influencer Ansem talk about meme coins with singer Iggy Azalea?

Written by: Zen

At the roundtable discussion "The Virality of Value: Memecoins in the Attention Economy" during TOKEN2049 on September 19, two celebrities who have garnered significant attention and income in the Meme space this year—famous Meme trader Ansem and rapper Iggy Azalea—were widely discussed.

During the session, the two explored the value and influence of Meme tokens, key attributes for building community culture, and future prospects. PANews has provided a brief summary of their remarks, highlighting some key viewpoints.

Ansem: The Meme Token Community and Its Four Key Attributes

"Meme tokens have many different attributes and factors, but I believe the most important one is their community." Ansem believes that the success of Meme tokens is inseparable from their community, especially in the early stages, where these communities often exhibit a cult-like closeness. He noted that looking back at the early days of Bitcoin, it initially had no real value, and what truly gave Bitcoin value was the group of people running network validators and holding Bitcoin. At that time, despite the lack of regulation and pricing, these individuals maintained a strong belief, endowing it with "romantic value."

Ansem also mentioned that when he discusses these meme tokens today, he primarily focuses on four key attributes: relatability, distribution, virality, and scalability.

"I think relatability is very important, meaning that even people who don't know what cryptocurrency is can easily understand them. You don't need to know what L1 is or all the technical details, but you will grasp that this is a very simple concept."

"The second thing I want to mention is that distribution is crucial. The problem we need to address is that when some tokens are issued, there are a lot of speculators involved initially, but they do not intend to hold for the long term." Ansem believes that the project's team structure and a more decentralized model are key. He stated that this approach facilitates widespread distribution in the early stages, attracting more people to participate in discussions and promoting the project through different platforms and social networks. "In the early days, this model often allows projects to spread like wildfire."

Virality is the third point Ansem mentioned. He continued by using Dogecoin as an example, stating that the success of this token is not only due to its strong community but also because its founder, Billy Markus, knows many people, and everyone knows who he is, which helped Dogecoin spread rapidly; the celebrity effect is also a part of this.

The final point is scalability. He noted that the success of WIF (Wifey) lies in its "hat" concept—being able to add a hat to other non-crypto-related things, giving it new meaning. This is also one of the ways it has been widely disseminated. Anyone seeing an item with a "hat" will associate it with this token.

This Cycle Will Focus on Consumer Applications

"Every cryptocurrency cycle brings new paradigms, and the core focus of this cycle is consumer adoption and consumer applications." Ansem stated that looking back at the past few cycles, the first cycle was the rise of Bitcoin as a store of value and a hedge; the second cycle saw Ethereum providing a foundation for numerous applications through a globally decentralized security platform. Now, as these applications mature, the current cycle is driving widespread consumer participation.

"In the last cycle, NFTs became the 'Trojan horse' for retail investors entering the crypto market; many people did not understand what NFTs were but suddenly found that a lot of resources and attention were directed toward the NFT market. A similar situation is repeating in the meme coin market of this cycle, where many people directly enter the meme coin market and then begin to understand the underlying technology."

Additionally, Ansem pointed out that these cultural tokens have yet to prove they can truly create value in the long term. He cited NFT brand Yuga Labs as an example, stating that meme coins should also start moving toward branding, spreading the brand through merchandise and stories, making people feel that they hold a part of the brand. This phenomenon is entirely consumer-centric, gradually permeating daily life.

In this cycle, retail investment methods are also changing. People used to be more inclined to invest in mainstream tokens, but now this speculative value seems to be gradually flowing out of mainstream tokens. Ansem remarked that whenever a technology or application undergoes its first iteration, the speculative frenzy is often very high due to a lack of comparability. The previous cycle's L1 public chains are a typical example; as user growth and real applications arrive, we are rethinking the pricing of infrastructure. He also stated, "From a macro perspective, this cycle is still closely related to meme coins, and smart money will gradually flow into infrastructure projects, DeFi, and other areas."

Cryptocurrency Empowers Celebrity Branding

During the session, another focal point was the well-known rapper and $MOTHER token founder Iggy Azalea, who also shared her views on the value and future prospects of cryptocurrency.

Iggy stated, "In an increasingly competitive environment, a digital community must evolve in innovative ways to maintain its competitive edge." She believes that as cryptocurrency gradually enters the retail market, mere token integration is no longer sufficient to attract users. "We can pay with Solana or Bitcoin, so why join a meme coin community?" Therefore, token integration must transform into a more attractive and valuable experience for holders, akin to building an exclusive social network.

People often express, "I love rap music" or "I love this artist," which influences their dressing style and lifestyle. Thus, brand association plays a significant role in music and entertainment culture. As a well-known figure in the entertainment industry, Iggy fully acknowledges the potential of cryptocurrency for personal branding. She believes that token integration is not just a benefit but can also add value to brand identity.

"As cryptocurrency increasingly integrates into the retail space, we will see the significance of tokens transcend wallets; they will become larger symbols of brands or personalization." Iggy stated that people will be able to identify with these brands and say, "Yes, this is me; these brands are part of me."

"This is not just personal identification; it is a broader cultural phenomenon. Other members of the community will also have similar feelings, and this resonance will encourage people to be more willing to join." Iggy added.