Author: Digital New Financial Report
On January 18, 2025, Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, announced the launch of his personal meme coin (Memecoin) TRUMP on his social media. According to CoinGecko data, the market capitalization of TRUMP rapidly climbed, ranking fourth among meme coins in a short time, peaking at $75.35. This astonishing increase and market performance have made Trump Coin the focus of public attention.
One of the purposes of Trump issuing the TRUMP coin should be to leverage his influence and topicality to create a unique identity in the cryptocurrency space, strengthening his personal brand image. He claimed that the coin aims to "celebrate a leader who does not back down even in the most adverse circumstances," alluding to events such as the assassination attempt he faced during his campaign. On the morning of May 23, 2025, at 7 AM (Eastern Time on the evening of May 22), 220 TRUMP token holders had a glorious night—based on their holdings ranking from April 23 to May 12, they won the opportunity to dine with President Trump. This can be seen as Trump's latest action to empower his TRUMP coin, with some calling it a "collusion" between Trump and TRUMP holders, a "pinnacle intersection of crypto and politics." Sun Yuchen, as the first holder, participated in the dinner and stated that "memecoins have legitimacy and value."
Why is Memecoin considered a decentralized engine for cultural activities in the digital intelligence era? First, memecoin, based on blockchain and smart contract technology, has initially possessed characteristics of a cultural empowerment tool. The immutable nature of blockchain can anchor cultural symbols (such as trending memes, IP images) as tokens, achieving digital rights confirmation and perceptual expression of cultural value; smart contracts automatically execute rules, enabling the construction of cultural interaction scenarios where users complete cultural exchanges through token transactions, staking, and other actions, such as exchanging tokens for cultural content in virtual communities. The decentralized ledger allows different cultural symbols to flow freely on-chain, and when users participate in token creation and circulation, it facilitates the collision and coordination of diverse cultures, forming a self-organizing cultural dissemination network, enabling efficient transmission and consensus of cultural value under technological empowerment.
Second, memecoin can become a cultural empowerment tool, and more importantly, users build cultural interaction scenarios through tokens. Users can host online seminars, virtual cultural exhibitions, and other activities based on memecoin, where participants obtain participation rights through token staking, deepening their understanding of cultural symbols during exchanges; they can also collaboratively complete cultural creation tasks, including but not limited to using memecoin to reward original memes, jokes, and other content, with the token incentive mechanism driving user collaboration. In this model, memecoin is not only a medium of exchange but also becomes a "trust bond" for cultural collaboration—users complete cultural task divisions through token circulation, spontaneously forming a cultural dissemination closed loop in decentralized communities, allowing dispersed cultural value to coalesce through consensus mechanisms, achieving an empowerment upgrade from symbol dissemination to value co-creation.
In addition to TRUMP coin, there are many highlights in memecoin cultural empowerment. Taking MemeCore as an example, users can create and share personal memecoins on its platform, integrating their own stories, expanding cultural dissemination through transactions and donations, and linking digital identity with economic value. Additionally, some memecoins based on popular anime and gaming culture allow fans to host online cosplay competitions, where participants pay entry fees and purchase props using corresponding memecoins, completing cultural tasks such as "recreating classic scenes," deepening their understanding and dissemination of the works. There was also a plan for the Dunhuang Spirit Realm to create the MEME Pig project, which, if realized, would allow users to participate in Dunhuang cultural-themed creation challenges using related memecoins, promoting new expressions of traditional culture in the digital age.
Another famous project, Bored Ape NFT, is driven by the project party rather than primarily by the community. However, similar to the aforementioned memecoins, its basic function is also to confirm cultural symbols through blockchain, allowing holders to gain community identity recognition, participate in offline gatherings, art exhibitions, and other cultural activities, and engage in secondary creation based on IP, deriving trendy brands, animations, and other cultural content, forming a cultural empowerment closed loop of "ownership - creation - dissemination," promoting the integration of street culture and crypto art, becoming a cultural social currency in the Web3 era. It can be said that there are certain similarities in this regard, and the two have the potential for mutual integration.
In traditional society, there are various tools for cultural empowerment. Specific regional spaces are also important traditional cultural empowerment tools. Historical and cultural cities, such as Xi'an, are living history and culture textbooks. Numerous historical sites, such as the ancient city wall, Terracotta Army, and Big Wild Goose Pagoda, are scattered throughout the city. Each year, they attract a large number of tourists from both domestic and international locations, allowing visitors to experience the grandeur of ancient architecture and the richness of historical culture firsthand. This on-site experience and feeling cannot be provided by book knowledge. The spatial environment of Xi'an provides a natural and powerful carrier for the dissemination and inheritance of ancient Chinese historical culture, allowing culture to thrive on this land.
Specific cultural significance of time also plays an important role. Traditional festivals are a typical representation; for example, during the Spring Festival, families reunite, and a series of traditional customs such as pasting couplets, having New Year's Eve dinner, and visiting relatives and friends are performed. During this specific time, elements such as family concepts, emotional bonds, and traditional cultural etiquette are infinitely magnified. Generations of people are immersed in the atmosphere of the Spring Festival, absorbing traditional culture and passing on these cultural connotations. The Spring Festival has become an important time node for the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture, continuously empowering culture.
Many cultural-related associations are dedicated to inheriting and promoting specific cultures. For example, some folk culture associations convey folk culture to the public by organizing various folk activities, such as traditional festival celebrations and folk art exhibitions. Members within the association collaborate on every aspect, from event planning and implementation to promotion, with each step reflecting their love for traditional culture and determination to pass it on. Through these activities, the influence of folk culture expands, and people's recognition and sense of identity continue to strengthen.
Compared to traditional cultural empowerment tools, memecoin has many similarities and differences. The similarity lies in that they both use certain carriers to disseminate and reinforce specific cultural connotations. Memecoin utilizes the internet and cryptocurrency technology to integrate specific cultural symbols or concepts for dissemination; traditional cultural empowerment tools spread traditional culture through their respective methods, such as organizing activities by association groups, physical carriers in regional spaces, and ritual activities at specific times.
The differences are more pronounced. From the perspective of dissemination speed and scope, memecoin relies on the internet and the global cryptocurrency market, allowing for extremely fast dissemination and global coverage. For example, with Trump coin, its market capitalization rapidly increased shortly after its release, attracting numerous cryptocurrency investors worldwide. In contrast, the dissemination speed of traditional cultural empowerment tools is relatively slow, and the scope is often limited by factors such as region and participant demographics. For instance, activities organized by local folk culture associations may only have influence limited to the local community or specific cultural enthusiast groups. In terms of participation methods, memecoin participation is open and transparent; anyone with internet access and some funds can engage in related cryptocurrency transactions and dissemination. However, traditional cultural empowerment tools, such as joining certain professional cultural associations, may require specific expertise or go through particular review processes; participating in cultural experiences in specific regional spaces may be limited by geographical location and economic conditions, such as traveling to Xi'an to experience its historical culture, which requires payment for transportation, accommodation, and other expenses.
Of course, memecoin and traditional cultural empowerment tools are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary, enhancing each other to make cultural activities in the digital intelligence era more convenient, richer, and more diverse.
Entering the digital intelligence era, memecoin has great potential to become a decentralized tool for cultural empowerment activities. The characteristics of the digital intelligence era are the high integration of digitization and intelligence, with rapid information dissemination and strong interactivity. Memecoin can utilize the decentralized nature of blockchain technology to break the limitations of central institutions present in traditional cultural dissemination and empowerment models. For example, some niche cultural creators can create their own cultural cryptocurrencies based on memecoin. By linking unique cultural content, such as original artworks and niche music, to this cryptocurrency, enthusiasts worldwide can support and disseminate this niche culture through purchasing, holding, and trading the currency. Moreover, due to the immutable nature of blockchain, copyright and other information about cultural works can be better protected, ensuring the rights of creators and further stimulating their enthusiasm for creating and disseminating culture.
In virtual cultural communities, memecoin can also play an important role. People can create virtual communities based on shared cultural themes and use specific memecoins as circulating currency within the community. Community members can use this currency to purchase virtual cultural products, such as virtual artworks and culturally themed game props. This approach not only enhances interaction and cultural identity among community members but also provides new momentum for cultural innovation and development. For example, in a virtual community themed around science fiction culture, creators can issue memecoins related to science fiction culture, allowing community members to support their creation of science fiction novels, comics, films, and other works, achieving diverse development and widespread dissemination of science fiction culture.
When users empower memecoins, they must still bear corresponding social responsibilities to protect the rights of others. Due to the highly speculative and uncertain nature of the memecoin market, price fluctuations can be significant. Users participating in related transactions and dissemination must not deliberately create false information to manipulate market prices or mislead other investors. For example, they should not spread false positive news about a certain memecoin online to attract uninformed investors, thereby inflating prices for personal profit; such behavior would severely harm the interests of other investors.
From the perspective of cultural dissemination, users must ensure the healthiness and legality of cultural content when using memecoins to spread culture. They must not disseminate memecoins that promote violence, discrimination, hatred, or other negative cultures. For instance, if someone attempts to create a cryptocurrency that promotes racial discrimination culture, other users should not only refrain from participating but also actively resist and report it to relevant regulatory authorities. The dissemination of such negative culture can cause significant harm to social harmony and stability, violating basic social responsibilities.
Although there are still many challenges and controversies, with the development of technology and the deepening of societal understanding, memecoins have shown unique potential and opportunities in cultural empowerment activities. Their specific technical characteristics, functional uses, and empowerment methods will undoubtedly continue to innovate and develop, and their impact on cultural activities will become increasingly profound. If reasonably regulated and utilized, it is expected to open new paths for the diverse development and widespread dissemination of culture in the digital intelligence era, becoming a highly influential decentralized cultural empowerment tool and a new decentralized engine for cultural activities in the digital intelligence era.
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