Memecoins as casino: extraction, diverted capital and talent drain
Quote407 words
Agrees that memecoin chasing repeats toxic cycles: gains concentrate in insider cabals, normies entering via memes rarely become real users, and builder talent leaves. Says the industry has to choose between asset class and casino.
Key claims
Realized memecoin gains concentrate among the same insider cabals
Memecoins and celebrity coins extracted billions and diverted liquidity from serious projects
None of the normies he saw enter via memecoins became real crypto users
Even tho the take seems unpopular based on comments I largely agree with @sjdedic here.
Not because I hate memecoins, but because instead of maturing as an industry, we keep repeating the same toxic cycles over and over.
Sure, a lot of people like memecoins and nothing will stop people from chasing the quick buck they dream of.
That's why a lot of ppl also end up gambling their money away in online slots, roulette or sports betting.
Sure, Solana made tons of volume on memes that ranged from "real internet culture stuff" to batshit crazy stuff.
But while that volume generated revenue for Solana as a chain, subsidized its infra, and might have had a few other decently positive side effects, the result is always the same when the music stops.
And that's the problem.
99% of people get crushed or see their dreams die. Realized gains largely concentrate around the same insider cabals as always, and while the "freshly onboarded" retail might have some initial fun along the ride, there is little to no evidence that there is any broader positive effect on the adoption of onchain apps and financial infra beyond the meme casino.
From my personal experience with normies entering this space through memecoin moonbags, I can confidently say tho that none of them ever turned into a "real crypto user", let alone got rich.
Meanwhile, memecoins (and celebrity coins) have collectively extracted billions from the space, diverted capital and liquidity away from serious projects building real things, and alongside a lot of other bad stuff that has happened far beyond memecoin pump and dumps, undoubtedly done a lot of reputational damage to our industry.
That is a problem, because as Simon says, the real value lies in the brilliant builder talent able and willing to unlock game-changing use cases onchain and building real, novel, programmable financial infrastructure at scale.
Those will (and already do) go elsewhere if we don't fix the credibility and sustainability issues this space has bc of the above, leaving us stuck with the same extraction missions, circle jerks and pump & dumps in the same PvP arena we've been in for years.
Making crypto a serious asset class would be more EV+ for everyone, but it takes work and short-term sacrifice (which is collectively inconvenient). The question is whether this industry wants to be an asset class or a casino, because it's becoming clear it can't be both.
QUOTING @sjdedic
Just when I started to be proud of the progress in our industry and started praising Solana for the fundamentally incredible things that are happening there with tokenized stocks, exotic RWAs etc, they start desperately competing for stupid memecoin market share on other chains.
Just when I started to be proud of the progress in our industry and started praising Solana for the fundamentally incredible things that are happening there with tokenized stocks, exotic RWAs etc, they start desperately competing for stupid memecoin market share on other chains.