Author: TechFlow
In the recent days of market downturn, you should have been bombarded by this chubby girl - a "fat version" of the a16z image, with the corresponding token being LLM (Large Language Models).
In this pun, Large (the plus size clothing) has become a funny Meme point, which is indeed an enlarged a16z, and also a pun on the current generative AI's large language models, so this Meme coin reached a market cap of one hundred million dollars in no time.
Some group members even directly said, this is not a16z, but ai160kg. Gaining an unexpected entertainment effect.
In the current crypto ecosystem, you have to admit that sometimes being serious about a project is not as good as being smart in finding an angle.
In this chubby girl Meme event, the editor thought of a popular phenomenon in the current crypto market:
AI projects are starting to deliberately take a "Altcoin name" to play on puns, deconstructing and deriving from the original, and then developing their own characteristics. For example, LLM is obviously derived from a16z, and a16z itself is also a kind of imitation and derivation of the well-known crypto VC a16z...
We've reviewed some of the more well-known pun projects, and perhaps there are also some wealth codes in the laughter.
Solana Ecosystem
a16z +Marc "AI"ndreessen: The Beginning of All Puns
No need for too much introduction, one of the leaders in the current AI agent craze, starting from an entertaining idea - to replicate the well-known crypto VC and founder on-chain, forming an AI version.
In addition to the name a16z, which can reflect AI and also benchmark the a16z crypto VC, the project also has a personal account called @pmairca, which is obviously a pun on the @pmarca account of a16z founder Marc Andreessen.
The meaning of the Twitter bio is also written very straightforward - I want to imitate, and I also want to surpass.
DegenAI: When AI Starts to Become a KOL's On-Chain Mirror
If a16z is imitating an investment institution, then DegenAI (@degenspartanai) is aiming at a well-known KOL in the crypto circle.
DegenAI (@degenspartanai) chooses to imitate the well-known crypto trader DegenSpartan (@DegenSpartan). This trader, known as "찌 G 跻 じ", is quite influential in the circle, a former private equity crypto fund manager, and also a KOL with a lot of attention on social media, definitely not unfamiliar to the players who often surf CT.
Interestingly, this AI project also comes from the a16z ecosystem.
This imitation account not only inherits DegenSpartan's trading style, but also wants to replicate his acerbic and incisive speaking style on social media.
And from the perspective of automated trading agents, choosing to imitate a well-known trader like DegenSpartan, to some extent, really has the meaning of "letting AI learn from top traders".
X Combinator : Change a Letter, Pay Tribute to Y Combinator
CA:
2PHi2f7xPq6bnh2J6xRN2Qc5TJ37epHihvBk49DgpAaU
X Combinator is an AI project incubation platform in the Solana ecosystem that imitates Y Combinator (abbreviated as YC). This project positions itself as "the best AI incubator and launchpad on Solana", obviously borrowing the successful model of YC in the Web2 startup circle.
Unlike traditional incubators, X Combinator focuses on the incubation of AI agent (Agent) projects, especially autonomous trading agents. They have established a program called "Project X" as a launchpad, to screen and cultivate outstanding AI trading agent projects.
The positioning is very much in line with the current development trend of the AI track in the Solana ecosystem, as more and more projects are starting to apply AI technology to areas such as automated trading, investment DAOs, and data analysis.
In terms of operation mode, X Combinator has established a strategic fund to specifically invest in the top-tier autonomous trading agents that emerge from its launchpad projects. This model is similar to YC's investment and support for outstanding startup projects.
AIrthur Hayes: Imitating a Legendary Figure in the Crypto Circle's AI Agent
CA:
6hUC9DN73kdinkth3JdELGYnEbLEnEE4NvbzzoG3yPKK
The naming of the AIrthur Hayes project is obviously imitating Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX, who is also one of the most influential figures in the cryptocurrency field.
Arthur Hayes himself has also made moves in the intersection of AI and crypto, such as joining the advisory board of the decentralized AI platform Ritual; in a previous interview with Bankless, he also stated that AI agents are a "new life force" for entering the cryptocurrency industry.
It is worth mentioning that this project also exists in the form of an AI-managed fund on Daos.fun, and has currently invested in a number of AI Agent project tokens, with a total asset management scale (AUM) of nearly $500,000.
AIWS: Imitating AWS, an AI Cloud Computing Platform
CA:
0x3E9C747db47602210EA7513c9D00abf356b53880 (Note that it is deployed on ZKSync)
AIWS (@aiwscloud) positions itself as the "first AI-driven cloud computing platform", specifically designed for the collaboration, computing, and trading of AI agents.
The emergence of AIWS reflects a larger narrative: the AI agent ecosystem may be seeking specialized infrastructure support.
Although the token is deployed on ZK Sync, in the Solana ecosystem, AIWS's services seem to be particularly targeted at AI trading agents that require a lot of computing resources. This forms a complementary relationship with other AI agent projects (such as C.A.T) in the ecosystem.
Therefore, it is also introduced in the Solana ecosystem, and interested players should pay attention to the CA address and not confuse it.
Bainance: Even Doing the Full Act, Imitating an Entire Department
CA:
4tViJmZ7LKREaqxrh3tXeCB5TfK7o67W3WhykHrr49ZC
No need to introduce who it is imitating, the logo looks quite interesting.
Self-positioned as an "accelerator for the trenches", mainly investing in strong communities (called "cults"), "developers" and agents.
It is also very honest, with the Twitter bio already indicating "Parody".
More interestingly, the project has also done a full set of acting, with related accounts CZ Bainance (@cz_bainance_), @bainance_intern (Bainance intern account), @bAI_Research (research department account);
This project obviously adopted a multi-account collaborative operation strategy, trying to replicate Binance's organizational structure, including labs, research departments and other different branches.
Beradigim: Do You Still Remember the Dreaded Paradigim?
CA:
GkyKzMTELYhbhuEepJdo28CrBPfeKxCfgvRjtg2HMW4M
Last cycle there was a controversial opinion, never buy projects invested by Paradigm. For example, Friend.tech, which no one remembers now.
And this VC has obviously not escaped the fate of being played with puns, Beradigim has come as it should.
The project is also built on daos.fun, managing its own crypto fund. But the funny part is that the project forms a linkage with the above-mentioned Bainance Altcoin, such as "we have received investment from Bainance", imitating the regular financing news commonly seen in crypto updates.
It is worth mentioning that there is also a project called Beradigim on the Berachain, but these two are not the same project (see the image on the right). However, the spirit of parody is also strong, claiming to have created a BAO (a pun on DAO), and BAO translates to "Bear Market Autism Organization"; at the same time, they claim to be establishing a Kodiak liquidity pool, which is a type of bear, paying tribute to the Berachain itself.
Base Ecosystem
WAI Combinator: A direct pun on Y Combinator
CA: 0x6112b8714221bBd96AE0A0032A683E38B475d06C
WAI Combinator is also a project built on the Virtuals protocol, but it is more inclined towards investment incubation. From the name, WAI is obviously paying tribute to the well-known tech startup incubator Y Combinator, and the business is also similar, but the incubated projects are all in the on-chain Base ecosystem, especially the early-stage projects in the Bonding Curve stage within Virtuals.
Its asset management scale has grown from $50,000 to over $700,000 in less than two weeks, and the value of the investment portfolio has begun to increase significantly (currently $500,000). Meanwhile, the project is continuously deploying new investments through the "Velocity" program, so you can keep an eye on the projects that it favors.
Sekoia: A pun on Sequoia Capital
CA: 0x1185cB5122Edad199BdBC0cbd7a0457E448f23c7
This project is also on Virtuals, but the editor has categorized it as an investment DAO or on-chain fund.
SEKOIA's goal is to build the best-performing on-chain venture capital agent. The project's X uses a semi-automated, semi-manual AI posting method, and its posts also claim to hope to surpass traditional companies and achieve better results.
From the name, it is obviously paying tribute to Sequoia, i.e., Sequoia Capital.
Compared to the other investment DAOs mentioned above, the project token has been relatively stable in price during the recent crypto market downturn, which may be due to the fact that the fund has invested in another token called $VOLTX, an AI Agent token, and has achieved good returns, gaining market favor.
Based on the information shown on the official website, the on-chain Sequoia's investment level is not bad, with a 15-fold return on its investment.
AicroStrategy: On-chain clone of MicroStrategy, mainly buying cbBTC
CA: 0x20ef84969f6d81Ff74AE4591c331858b20AD82CD
AicroStrategy is an AI hedge fund that will use its cbBTC holdings to maximize its Bitcoin exposure. The funds raised will be used to purchase cbBTC, and these Bitcoins will be deployed to carefully selected DeFi protocols to maximize security and leverage.
It should be noted that this project was launched on Daos.world, which is a "investment DAO" platform similar to daos.fun, where decentralized hedge funds managed by real people or AI agents raise funds, generate returns, and distribute profits to DAO token holders.
So, one of the fund projects in daos.fun is AicroStrategy, which has its own holdings and fund management strategy.
The initial plan was to deposit into Aave, borrow USDC, buy more cbBTC, and repeat the process. The AI algorithm will determine the optimal leverage to execute the plan.
The DAO's holdings do reflect that it only buys cbBTC, but it buys even more of the brother DAO $FDREAM's tokens.
Berachain Ecosystem
Projects on the Berachain have always had a bit of a Meme and entertainment vibe, and they naturally won't miss the opportunity to use puns, adding more "Bera" flavor to them.
Baos.fun: The bear chain version of daos.fun, taking the joke to the extreme
The naming of the Baos.fun project is obviously imitating Daos.fun, the most eye-catching AI investment DAO platform in the Solana ecosystem.
But Baos.fun hasn't officially launched yet, though the parody is obviously more skillful, such as the website saying Q5 will be launched (the fifth quarter), while everyone knows there are only four quarters in a year.
The website also has links to several other pun projects that are quite funny, such as Beradigm and bEliza.
Compared to the some green elements of daos.fun and pump.fun, the project's Twitter has added the Berachain's theme of yellow, turning it into a yellow little pill.
Currently, there is no token, and clicking to join the whitelist may have more entertainment elements in the future.
3BerasCapital: Three Arrows collapsed, three bears rise
CA: 0x3E64cD8Fd4d2FAe3D7f4710817885B0941838d0B (currently on Base)
Remember that Three Arrows Capital that went bankrupt last cycle? Well, they've created a "Three Bears" Capital. The project's logo and graphic design have replaced the three arrows with three bear heads, with a full sense of silliness and humor.
It is worth mentioning that since the bear chain has not yet been launched, Three Bears Capital has chosen the aforementioned daos.world on Base to launch its own fund management DAO.
Currently, the fund only buys its own 3BC token and has not purchased any other AI tokens.
Starting from Altcoin, Surpassing Disruption
After seeing all these projects playing with Altcoin names and puns, does it remind you of anything?
That's right, it's very similar to the Shanzhai (Altcoin) model we often see in Huaqiangbei: openly telling you that it's a clone of the original, but it's cheap and may have features you don't have.
Leveraging the heat of the original brand to do edge disruption and small innovations, there will always be a certain market.
In the current AI craze, CEXes and centralized institutions (VCs or well-known project parties) are like the genuine goods that Huaqiangbei wants to imitate, and although they are genuine, they often find themselves in the midst of criticism and rebellious sentiments.
If innovation is always in Huaqiangbei, then disruption is always on the chain - what others have, I have; what others have, I improve; what others improve, I change... After a series of events such as low-liquidity VC tokens and the decline of exchange credibility, the market sentiment must have an outlet, and AI is just a perfect match for the technical theme.
Using AI to clone and optimize an entity to make the business better, this story itself will attract hot money inflow.
However, making Altcoin puns is not a new thing.
With China's accession to the WTO and more overseas consumer brands entering, a wave of Altcoin products emerged in China as early as 2008, such as Siku Sile, Maijie, and Leibei, which made people smile. I'm sure everyone has seen them.
You may ask why they do this, but the principles of the business world are all the same, but in the crypto world, there are more distinctive features:
Riding on the awareness and heat of the original brand makes it easier to cold-start and attract attention
In the crypto world, this naturally carries a rebellious and entertaining spirit, a form of Meme expression + serious AI technology, which is quite interesting.
And behind these Altcoin names is a certain "cunning" and "disruptive sentiment" in marketing, which ultimately brings a double harvest in marketing narrative and actual token performance
There are always new assets on the blockchain, and there is nothing new under the sun. When English name cloning becomes a trend, you may need to exit before aesthetic fatigue sets in.
