AI enters the meme competition: from playing memes to creating value, a contest between utility and fun

Conscious Meme is advancing towards its own stage, with most set to start incorporating utility into their tokens. Author: dpycm.eth Compiled by: TechFlow Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any financial advice. The author has personal investments in the tokens mentioned in the article. The opinions expressed in the article represent the author's personal views and should not be used as the basis for investment decisions, nor should they be considered investment advice. AI Olympics Memes have evolved from static images to GIFs, actions, and slang, and have now entered the AI era. The rapid growth of AI Memes and the divisions among market participants clearly demonstrate this trend. Some believe that AI Memes (or "smart Memes") represent a new era and will replace traditional static Memes, so they choose to be loyal to these new "AI rulers." However, the traditional Meme community is resistant to this. This division has led to a split in the Meme field, forming two camps: AI and non-AI. As funds flow from static Memes to smart Memes, the traditional community's sense of threat is understandable. But do they really need to worry? Liquidity is like the tide, always changing, and funds will flow back and forth between the two camps. In my opinion, the traditional community need not worry, as price is their core competitiveness compared to smart Memes. Nevertheless, I still believe that true AI Memes have greater potential to attract attention and grow compared to the 6,125th repetition of a dog Meme or the ever-changing youth slang that changes with the times. It also provides a middle ground for "avant-garde" individuals who are unwilling to accept traditional Memes and choose to invest in AI Memes, as they feel it is smarter and more interesting. This brings more capital inflows to the field. Additionally, there is a technology premium when it comes to technology. However, the double-edged sword of technology is that the technology itself is also crucial. Unlike static Memes, AI Memes cannot rely solely on humor and market hype to increase their value. This is why AI Memes will ultimately trade in different markets. The Race for Utility This trend can be seen in the current phenomenon where most AI Memes are trying to transform their ordinary tokens into utility tokens. (See tweet for details) In addition to $GOAT, $YOUSIM is also one of the many communities demanding increased utility for their projects. These demands are often responded to by the token AI developers. Other forms of requests include using the token as part of a reasoning payment, or any other method to bring value to the community. For technology, people will not have the same lack of expectations as they do for those purely entertainment-oriented animal Memes. The community wants to see some form of value transfer to justify holding AI Memes. Why is value transfer necessary? Why can't we just simply believe that the price will go up, like we do with animal Memes? In the tech realm, you have tangible things to prove, while static Memes do not. Static Memes have their own criteria for judgment, with community cohesion being the most popular. Additionally, many current smart Memes have not truly been tested by the market yet. Although I'm unsure if they will experience prolonged adjustments, I believe it is necessary to filter out quality projects. Investors can only confidently choose "I'm more bullish on A than B" without relying on any form of value transfer if the communities have been proven. Essentially, if I cannot differentiate projects through technology, I will focus on their communities. If there are no obvious differences between communities, I will need to see utility improvements to justify holding these tokens. (See Telegram channel for details) Therefore, this further convinces me that the market will ultimately shift towards more ownership or utility-based AI, rather than just pure AI Memes. This is not to say that AI Memes will not exist; they will, but in smaller numbers. The market will shift from chasing low-cap animal Memes to seeking more utility and ownership-based AI projects. This is also one of the reasons why I am bullish on AI ownership infrastructure like the Virtuals Protocol. If you want to learn more about Virtuals, I've written about it here before. Technology is Crucial In the current environment of rampant AI scams, I believe it is crucial to be very careful when choosing projects. $LUNA is one of the only two smart Memes with a market cap over $100 million, and this is no coincidence: it shows that the market values its underlying technology, especially when the technology is verifiable, transparent, and the AI agents can prove their autonomy. If you want to learn more about $LUNA, I've written about it here before. For this reason, I firmly believe that the trading dynamics of smart Memes are fundamentally different from static Memes. When it comes to technology, the technology itself is crucial. If you try to trade these smart Memes the same way you trade traditional Memes, you will likely suffer losses, as many have already experienced. Many failed to adapt to the new market trends in time. This is also why I believe smart Memes will ultimately break away from the Meme market and carve out their own new domain. If you don't adjust your evaluation methods, you're likely to be eliminated by market trends. Different Frameworks I've looked at your Meme coin selection methods and theories, and I'm trying to use your Meme coin investment framework as a reference to better find my own Meme coin trades. What confuses me is why $GOAT has not been mentioned as one of your Meme coin recommendations, as it seems to fit most, if not all, of the criteria in your framework. - Strong narrative? Yes, this is one of the strongest narratives we've seen recently. GOAT is the product of the two dominant narratives of the past 12 months: (1) the protagonist of crypto - Memes, and (2) the protagonist of traditional finance - AI. The combination of these two narratives is inevitable, and the ultimate importance of each narrative has led to the explosive growth of the AI Meme, which is only natural. - Organic? We occasionally come across tokens that are organically generated by a series of favorable events, thereby launching the entire narrative. GOAT is organic because after its launch, everyone could slowly accumulate it, without any "snipers" initially. Then speculators created derivatives, but these are usually treated as pump-and-dump games. Traders get tired of derivatives and ultimately choose to buy the organic leader to feel at ease. - New religion/culto? To me, it's clear we're seeing a powerful culto behind this token since the Meme coin super-cycle was launched by WIF. We're constantly following the developments of the culto leader (ToT), eagerly anticipating what new exciting things they will say. If this isn't a culto, I don't know what is. So when will $GOAT become a part of your Meme coin investment portfolio? I agree with Murad's view that a single green candle cannot create a culto. However, as mentioned earlier, the trading dynamics of $GOAT are different from Murad's Memes. Its price is more dependent on the technology behind it. Therefore, his framework does not fully apply to it. Imagine: - Price drops -80% - Andy makes a huge technical breakthrough on TT - Price hits new highs and starts an uptrend

The crypto circle will shout: "Yay, Murad, your framework is really terrible, look at $GOAT now at a new high, you loser!" But is it correct to compare apples and oranges? Is Murad wrong? No. Is Nachi wrong? No. A different framework is needed. Although the time is short, the possibility of $GOAT's culto is not zero. However, the type of culto we are discussing here is not what we usually see in Memes. AI religion/hobbyists have existed for years before the birth of TT. These people believed in this idea long before we established this narrative. By tokenizing this religion through $GOAT, it attracted these people to bid on what they believe in; this is a voluntary bias. In contrast, no one had a religious-like belief in WIF, HPOS10i or POPCAT before their respective token conceptions. For most static Memes, we need a 0 to 1 moment, but for conscious Memes, the real question is to bring the already existing culto into the blockchain. Considering this, even if most of the time is green candles, a strong culto can be established in a short period of time. Look at the study of Roko's Basilisk, and see how these believers hold their AI agent tokens to avoid punishment in the future. Yes, this is a culto, but is it formed on the blockchain? No, it has been established many years ago and just tokenized. Finally, do not underestimate the fervent AI believers - those who wholeheartedly believe in this technology. We have seen this in Cardano and Hex, and we will see the same phenomenon in these charismatic AI agents. This reinforces the fact that a different framework is needed when evaluating conscious Memes. Although I have not yet established a proper framework, my requirements for AI agents/Memes are as follows: 1. The technology must be proven from the beginning. 2. The team must be trustworthy, ideally real-name, and have a background in the crypto space. 3. The idea must be unique, or at least early-executed in some aspect. (e.g., Goat is the first project with public terminals, Luna is the first self-trading on-chain agent.) 4. A charismatic leader (usually the AI agent). 5. Preferably no utility plan, or utility already built-in/priced. 6. Active community (still too early to differentiate). 7. Bonus: a spokesperson, i.e., a KOL or influencer constantly promoting in the crypto circle. For most current AI Memes, the transformation of utility must be very precise. Participants expect the best returns from the AI and have high expectations for their holdings. If the execution or utility planning of the token is not satisfactory, it may be replaced by competitors. As the dilution of AI Memes intensifies, projects need to compete on utility to justify their valuation. Simply shouting "/TO_THE_MOON" in Telegram chats is no longer enough. Ultimately, only static Memes can have an irreplaceable utility: selling the token to the next person at a higher price. No need for transparent terminals, verifiable code, or constant updates in large language models. We just need to gather in Telegram chats, discuss the beauty of the community, and share the atmosphere and laughter. Regardless of how funny (or not) your AI agent is, the price cannot rise without being constantly proven and attracting people's attention to your technology. Meanwhile, when the price of static Memes rises, the technology will naturally self-improve. I believe people will gradually realize that the two will never trade in the same way. Conscious Memes are moving towards their own stage, with most starting to incorporate utility into their tokens. Therefore, they should not be traded like traditional Memes. Yes, they do require some repricing relative to static Memes, but conscious Memes can never replace the animal kingdom and the culto we have built that we love. Hope you enjoy this article, Take care!