On Pumps, Trenches & the Joys of Friction 🧵 The consumer crypto experience for the past 6mo has basically been a slot machine collab between Temu x PH Fungible tokens are fun af and enable a great deal in terms of innovation, value transfer & experiences but the fast fashion vapor core of it leaves many if not most depleted and rekt (stg I'm not hating, I love the game too but let me ramble for a hot minute) There's nothing wrong with trench life — it can be hella fun, character building, opportunity creating and pairs beautifully with both friends & strangers on the internet What it lacks in is worth noting though. I'm sure you're aware of it, maybe not always consciously but the effects are felt and define most of the experience While not all trenches are created equal (ie. NFTs vs Meme Coins), our experience of them mostly comes down to friction & resonance imo I think these are where we see the biggest qualitative differences between the trenches of the NFT bullrun of 2021 and those of the meme coin supercycle of 2024-present day. I also think that it's the experiential, qualitative delta of these trenches that will bring us back into more of an equilibrium of NFTs/coins in terms of consumer behaviour (loosely defined by sales/volume and relevance) ie. NFT + meme coin supercycle (real (soon(imo))) The general vibe check is that we love the meme coins and the easy & accessible opportunities they bring, but most suck at it and even those that do it well are mentally rekt on average. Many seem to long for the simpler times of collecting, trading and resonating with unique pictures. The UX of last cycle was like chicken soup for the newly onchain, somewhat culturally literate yet internet autist's soul, or something like that "I am my penguin and my penguin is me" type beat I'm not saying anything that isn't obvious but the inherent uniqueness of NFTs paired with their similarities in both content & network composition is special and has been treated as such (eg. 1/1 Art sets, PFP collections & longform generative + network art) This duality can create both individual and communal resonance in a way that fungible tokens cannot, and in turn this creates friction and time for network & brand growth to occur — ultimately, and maybe ideally, creating an environment more conducive to longterm value accrual and positive shared experiences (or in the least, anticipation of both) Don't get me wrong — I believe in memes and meme coins and think they've created some of the strongest and most resilient communities the internet has ever seen That said — we've come a long way from digital cash, world computers & Doge and the pace of [new things] in this vertical now is clearly fucked lmaooo 🫨 The friction of launching & trading meme coins is basically zero thanks to Pump, Phantom and many others. This is a good thing imo but the excitement and direction of it all clearly turned into a toppy, frothy feverpitch and is now giving hopeful but nervous hangover energy This is a bit obscure but sometimes I find it easier to think in loose terms of leftcurve physics and one of the best analogies that came to mind for how these two asset classes & trench types differ roughly equates to... Positive vs Negative Displacement Pumps Positive Displacement Pumps ≈ NFTs - More controlled value flow (ie. NFT collections are more intrinsically brands which require quality/resonant imagery and take time to build ≈ gud friction) - Consistency regardless of external pressures (ie. A Beeple is always a Beeple, and "You are your Punk/Milady/Penguin/Ape, it is you" — regardless of market conditions) Negative Displacement Pumps ≈ Meme Coins - Momentum-driven - Volatile in value (w/ value linked almost entirely to price/inflows) - Not as self-sustaining (ie. the pump/coin requires priming & stricter external conditions in order to keep pumping) To wrap things up for the 3 kind souls still reading: I don't think we'll ever hard pivot back to NFTs, but — I'd bet on them returning in a big way and taking up more of an equal market share of both attentional & financial liquidity — likely from all that's mentioned above, as well as NFTs playing a more integral & enmeshed role with FTs for both existing NFT collections (eg. Pudgy Penguins) and those yet to launch (eg. MegaETH) The merger of (+EV friction of trading/collecting & creating NFTs combined with their ability to form market resilient or price-independent resonance) + (the efficiencies, opportunities and excitement that coins offer) is just too strong to not run in parallel if not synergistically Going back to our (my) boring af but hopefully helpful analogy of the two literal pump types, there's a third that's worth mention — the heart The heart is a dual chamber reciprocating pump, basically this means it can provide the consistency & reliability of positive displacement pumps (ie. NFTs) as well as the benefits in flexibility and dynamic flow + pressure management provided by negative displacement pumps (ie. meme coins) A lesson there maybe Thoughts/discourse welcome 🤍 References: - My nervous system - Chronic online + onchain behaviour - A childlike ability to notice & ponder that's somehow survived this long (bless) - Smarter people on this app - The YT creators that clarified these pump types lol - Milady