Author: TechFlow
In the past few days when the market has been falling, you must have been flooded with messages about this little fat girl --- a "fat version" of ai16z, whose corresponding token is LLM (Large Language Models), which literally means "large language model".
In this pun, Large (an extra-large size of common clothing sizes) has become a funny meme point. It is indeed an enlarged ai16z, and it also puns on the large language model in current generative AI. As a result, the market value of this meme coin quickly exceeded 100 million US dollars.
Some group members even said that this is not ai16z, but ai160kg. It was an unexpected entertainment effect.
In the current crypto ecosystem, you have to admit that sometimes doing a project seriously is not as effective as cleverly finding angles.
In this fat girl meme event, the editor thought of a popular phenomenon in the current crypto market:
AI projects have begun to take a liking to intentionally creating an "imitation name" for punning, deconstructing and deriving from the original, thereby developing their own characteristics. For example, LLM is clearly derived from ai16z, and ai16z itself is also a form of imitation and derivation of the well-known crypto VC a16z...
We reviewed some of the currently well-known pun projects, and perhaps amidst the laughter, there are quite a few wealth codes.
Solana ecosystem
ai16z + Marc "AI" ndreessen: the beginning of all puns.
No need for too much introduction, one of the leaders in the current AI agent frenzy, starting from a fully entertaining idea --- to replicate well-known crypto VCs and founders on-chain, creating an AI version.
In addition to the name ai16z, which reflects AI and is a benchmark against the a16z crypto venture capital, the project is also accompanied by a personal account named @pmairca, which is clearly a pun on the a16z founder Marc Andreessen's account @pmarca.
The meaning in the Twitter bio is very straightforward --- I want to imitate, and I want to surpass.
DegenAI: when AI begins to become an on-chain mirror of KOLs.
If ai16z is imitating an investment institution, then DegenAI (@degenspartanai) is targeting well-known KOLs in the crypto circle.
DegenAI (@degenspartanai) chooses to imitate well-known trader DegenSpartan (@DegenSpartan) in the crypto circle. This trader, known by the name "찌 G 跻 じ", is quite influential in the circle, being a former private equity crypto fund manager and also a KOL who is highly regarded on social media; anyone who frequents CT will be familiar with him.
Interestingly, this AI project also comes from the ai16z ecosystem.
This imitation account not only inherits DegenSpartan's trading style but also aims to replicate his sharp and incisive speech features on social media.
Moreover, from the perspective of automatic trading agents, choosing to imitate well-known traders like DegenSpartan does have a certain implication of "allowing AI to learn from top traders".
X Combinator: changing a letter to pay homage 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", clearly drawing inspiration from YC's successful model in the Web2 startup scene.
Unlike traditional incubators, X Combinator focuses on incubating AI agent projects, particularly autonomous trading agents. They have established a launchpad program called "Project X" to select and nurture outstanding AI trading agent projects through this platform.
Its positioning is very much in line with the current development trend of AI tracks in the Solana ecosystem, as more and more projects begin to apply AI technology in areas such as automated trading, investment DAOs, and data analysis.
From an operational perspective, X Combinator has established a strategic fund specifically to invest in top autonomous trading agents that emerge from its launchpad projects. This model is similar to YC's investment support for outstanding startup projects.
AIrthur Hayes: an AI agent imitating a legendary figure in the crypto circle.
CA:
6hUC9DN73kdinkth3JdELGYnEbLEnEE4NvbzzoG3yPKK
The naming of the AIrthur Hayes project is clearly imitating Arthur Hayes, who is the co-founder of BitMEX and one of the most influential figures in the cryptocurrency space.
Arthur Hayes himself has also been active 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 stated that AI agents represent a "new vitality" in the cryptocurrency industry.
It is worth mentioning that the project also exists in the form of an AI-managed fund on Daos.fun, and has currently invested in several AI Agent project tokens, with total assets under management (AUM) reaching nearly $500,000.
AIWS: an AI cloud computing platform imitating AWS.
CA:
0x3E9C747db47602210EA7513c9D00abf356b53880 (note it is on ZKSync)
AIWS (@aiwscloud) positions itself as "the first AI-led cloud computing platform", specifically designed for 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 particularly targeted at AI trading agents that require a large amount of computing resources. This forms a complementary relationship with other AI agent projects in the ecosystem (such as C.A.T).
Therefore, it is similarly introduced in the Solana ecosystem; interested players should pay attention to identify CA addresses and not confuse them.
Bainance: even putting on a full act, mimicking an entire department.
CA:
4tViJmZ7LKREaqxrh3tXeCB5TfK7o67W3WhykHrr49ZC
Imitating someone needs no further introduction; the logo looks very interesting.
Positioned as an "accelerator for the trenches", primarily investing in strong communities (referred to as "cults"), "developers", and agents.
At the same time, it is also very honest, with its Twitter bio clearly stating "Parody" (imitation account).
Interestingly, the project has also created a complete act, linking accounts such as CZ Bainance (@cz_bainance_), @bainance_intern (Bainance intern account), and @bAI_Research (research department account);
This project clearly adopts a strategy of multi-account collaborative operation, attempting to replicate Binance's organizational structure, including different branches such as laboratories and research departments.
Beradigim: Do you still remember the infamous Paradigm?
CA:
GkyKzMTELYhbhuEepJdo28CrBPfeKxCfgvRjtg2HMW4M
In the last cycle, there was a bold statement: never buy projects invested in by Paradigm. For example, Friend.tech, which is hardly remembered now.
And this VC has clearly not escaped the fate of being played with puns; Beradigim is indeed coming.
The project is also built on daos.fun, managing its own crypto fund. The humor lies in the project linking with the aforementioned imitation Binance, such as "we received investment from Bainance", mimicking the serious financing news commonly seen in crypto news.
It is worth mentioning that there is also a similarly named Beradigim on Berachain, which is not the same project (see the image on the right), but it equally embraces humor, claiming to have created a BAO (a pun on DAO), which translates to "Bear Market Autism Organization"; it also claims to establish a Kodiak liquidity pool, which is a type of bear, paying homage to Berachain itself.
Base ecosystem
WAI Combinator: a direct pun on Y Combinator.
CA:
0x6112b8714221bBd96AE0A0032A683E38B475d06C
WAI Combinator is actually also built on the Virtuals protocol, but leans more towards investment incubation.
From the name, WAI clearly pays homage to the well-known tech incubator Y Combinator, with a similar business model; however, the projects incubated are all on-chain in the Base ecosystem, especially early projects still in the Bonding Curve stage within Virtuals.
Its assets under management grew from $50,000 to over $700,000 in less than two weeks, and the value of the portfolio began to rise significantly (currently $500,000). Meanwhile, the project is continuously deploying new investments through the "Velocity" program, and one can keep an eye on the projects that gain its favor.
Sekoia: a pun on Sequoia Capital.
CA:
0x1185cB5122Edad199BdBC0cbd7a0457E448f23c7
The project also exists on Virtuals, but I categorize it as an investment DAO or on-chain fund.
SEKOIA aims to create the best-performing on-chain venture capital agency. The project's X adopts a semi-automated, semi-manual AI posting method, claiming to hope to surpass traditional companies and achieve better results.
From the name, it is clearly paying homage to Sequoia, i.e., Sequoia Capital.
The project's token has remained relatively stable in price compared to the other investment DAOs mentioned above during the recent downturn in the crypto market; the reason may stem from the fund investing in another AI Agent token called $VOLTX, which has performed well and is favored by the market.
According to the information displayed on the official website, the on-chain Sequoia's investment level is quite good, achieving profits that are 15 times its total investment.
AicroStrategy: an on-chain imitation of MicroStrategy, mainly buying cbBTC.
CA:
0x20ef84969f6d81Ff74AE4591c331858b20AD82CD
AicroStrategy is an AI hedge fund that will use its cbBTC holdings to maximize Bitcoin exposure. The raised funds will be used to purchase cbBTC, which will be deployed in carefully selected DeFi protocols to maximize security and leverage.
It is worth noting that this project is launched on Daos.world, which is a decentralized hedge fund platform similar to daos.fun, managed by real people or AI agents, raising funds, generating returns, and returning profits to DAO token holders.
Thus, one of the fund projects in daos.fun is AicroStrategy, which has its own holdings and fund management strategy.
The initial plan of the project was to deposit into Aave, borrow USDC, buy more cbBTC, and then repeat the process. The AI algorithm will determine the best leverage ratio for executing the plan.
The DAO's holdings indeed reflect that it only buys cbBTC, but it has bought more of the tokens from its brother DAO $FDREAM.
Berachain ecosystem
Projects on Berachain have always had a bit of a meme and entertaining vibe, and they certainly won't miss out on puns, adding more "Bera" flavor to them.
Baos.fun: daos.fun for the Bear Chain, will carry humor to the end.
The naming of the Baos.fun project is clearly imitating Daos.fun, which is the most prominent AI investment DAO platform in the Solana ecosystem.
However, Baos.fun has not officially launched yet, but obviously has a knack for humor, as its official site states it will launch in Q5 (the fifth quarter), while everyone knows there are only four quarters in a year.
At the same time, the official website humorously associates several other pun projects, such as Beradigm and bEliza.
Compared to certain green elements of daos.fun and pump.fun, the project's Twitter has incorporated Berachain's theme yellow, turning it into a small yellow pill.
Currently, there are no tokens; clicking to join the whitelist guarantees that more entertaining elements may come later.
3BerasCapital: Three Arrows broke, Sanxiong stands tall.
CA:
0x3E64cD8Fd4d2FAe3D7f4710817885B0941838d0B (currently on Base)
Remember the bankrupt Three Arrows Capital from the last cycle? So they created "Sanxiong" Capital. The project's logo and design replaced the three arrows with three bear heads, fully embracing humor and silliness.
It is worth mentioning that since the Bear Chain has not yet launched, Sanxiong Capital chose to start its fund management DAO on daos.world on Base, as previously mentioned.
Currently, the fund has only purchased its own 3BC token and has not acquired other AI tokens.
Starting from imitation, stronger through disruption.
After seeing so many projects playing with imitation names and puns, does anything come to mind?
That's right, this is very similar to the Hawking North imitation goods model we often see: openly telling you that it is based on the original, but the quality and price may have functions that you do not have.
Leveraging the heat of the original brand to do marginal disruption and small innovations always has a certain market.
In the current wave of AI, centralized exchanges (CEXs) and centralized institutions (VCs or well-known project parties) are like the genuine goods that Hawking North wants to imitate; although they are genuine, they often fall into criticism and rebellious thoughts.
If innovation always happens in Hawking North, then disruption always happens on-chain --- having what others do not, having better than what others have, and improving what is already good... After experiencing a series of events such as low circulation VC tokens and declining credibility of exchanges, the market sentiment certainly has an outlet; AI is simply a perfectly matched technological theme.
Using AI to clone and optimize a physical entity to improve business, this story in itself will attract hot money inflow.
However, the use of puns for imitation is not a new phenomenon.
With China's accession to the World Trade Organization and more overseas consumer brands flowing in, a wave of imitation products surged in the domestic market as early as 2008, such as Sikou Sile, Maijie, Leibi, and other amusing imitations that everyone has likely seen.
If you ask why this is done, the principles of the business world are generally the same, but in the crypto world, they have their own characteristics:
Leveraging the recognition and popularity of the original brand makes it easier to cold start and attract attention.
In the crypto world, doing this inherently carries a rebellious and entertaining spirit, a meme-like expression + serious AI technology, creating a unique charm.
Behind such imitation names lies a certain marketing "cleverness" and the utilization of "disruptive sentiment", ultimately achieving both marketing narrative effects and actual token performance.
There are always new assets on the blockchain; there is nothing new under the sun. When English name collisions become a trend, you may need to exit before aesthetic fatigue sets in.
