Memecoins have the potential to make it easier to finance public goods and are a key driver of the blockchain adoption rate.
Vitalik Buterin, chief scientist of Ethereum, and Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, are among the prominent web3 personalities who have spoken out in favor of the growing memecoin industry, arguing that its value is underappreciated.
Hayes cautioned doubters not to write off the meme token segment as “dumb and valueless” in an interview with Raoul Pal that took place on March 30.
“You may dismiss these things as foolish and useless, but if they attract more engineers to the field, it’s beneficial for the chain,” Hayes said. “The only thing is that it’s entertaining; all it consists of is people trying out new things and competing with one another in games with monetary prizes.”
Hayes said that the memecoin industry is generating substantial revenue for the platforms that host them. “Valuable chains are those that can foster this culture,” he went on to say.
Hayes goes further by saying that the two platforms most suited to capitalize on the memecoin trade boom have been Ethereum and Solana.
Base, a prominent Ethereum Layer 2, is seeing an uptick in activity due to the rising popularity of memecoins, which coincides with Hayes’ remarks.
Following a record high of 27.1 TPS on March 30, Base’s transaction throughput has increased by 475% in 30 days, reaching 26.7 TPS, according to L2beat. The overall value of Bases has increased by 34% in the last seven days, reaching $3.46 billion, and Uniswap tweeted that on March 31st, the daily volume for its Base deployment surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
Along with the meteoric rise in memecoin trading, Solana saw an explosion in activity, and the ecosystem’s market valuation grew by billions thanks to Dogwifhat, Bonk, and Book of Meme.
Additionally, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, shared his thoughts on the memecoin industry in a blog post on March 29.
Noting that well-known web3 pundits are “uneasy” with meme tokens since they “move up and down in price and provide nothing of value in their wake,” Buterin admitted that there is resistance to the industry from various quarters inside web3.
Buterin counters that detractors shouldn’t limit themselves to denouncing the current speculative frenzy; instead, they could consider ways to put memecoins to good use.
Buterin said that a possible solution to the problem may be to “virtue-signal” by shaking one’s head and expressing one’s opposition to the foolishness. “Could there be a more positive-sum version of this entire notion if people prioritize having fun and playing financialized games?”
However, Buterin did point out that previous projects like GiveWell Inu, Fable of the Dragon Tyrant, and Dogelon Mars used memecoins to support public goods and charitable initiatives, yet the outcomes were varied.
Also Read: Coinbase Trading Volume Exceeds $1 Billion Amid Memecoin Growth April 2, 2024
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