In just a few months, Base has rapidly risen from a relatively unfamiliar Layer 2 project to a leader in Ethereum-compatible ecosystems, with TVL (Total Value Locked) exceeding 3.85 billion dollars, surpassing Arbitrum and Optimism, becoming the most competitive new giant in the Layer 2 market. With strong backing from Coinbase and support from North American capital, the Base ecosystem experienced explosive growth in 2024, with inflows in November exceeding those of Solana, becoming one of the hottest wealth tracks in the blockchain field. However, despite significant achievements in capital inflow and ecosystem growth, its on-chain transaction volume has not surpassed Solana, indicating that while rapidly expanding, Base still faces dual challenges of sustained growth and market competition.
Taking market value as an example, Clanker's CLANKER token has reached a market cap of 70 million dollars, reflecting the enormous appeal of the Base ecosystem and the current craze. Unlike traditional VC coin strategies, the rise of meme tokens drives on-chain data and users' trading behaviors in reverse to exchange listings, forming a new ecological model. Users accumulate chips on-chain and then use exchange liquidity to exit, pushing centralized exchanges (CEX) to the corners of the market. This is also a strong signal that I believe indicates the true beginning of a bull market, similar to the on-chain liquidity scenario that erupted during the DeFi Summer of 2020. This innovative mechanism showcases the vitality of the Base ecosystem while also exposing the challenges it faces in market competition.
Comparison of on-chain data between Base and Solana on Artemis.
The relationship between public chains and ecosystem projects is like a couple dancing together, inseparable and mutually reinforcing. Whether Base, as a public chain, can leverage the empowerment of AI Agents and Meme culture to break through the $4 billion TVL barrier and become a market leader remains an unresolved challenge. At the same time, whether ecosystem projects like Clanker and Virtual Protocol can find fertile ground for growth within the Base ecosystem and rise with market heat is also worth watching. Clanker and Virtual Protocol are representative projects in this wave of enthusiasm for Base, with the former being a 'machine for creating popular memes' and the latter spanning from GameFi to AI infrastructure and consumer platforms. Although they have different development paths, both have seized market opportunities and become focal points. Through the rise of these projects, we see the appeal of the Base ecosystem and the current market craze, showcasing the deep entanglements and tacit understandings between public chains and projects. While the scenery is boundless, it is still filled with the driving forces of business and market interests.
Clanker: The 'Hit Meme' factory of the Base ecosystem.
Clanker is like a crazy invention that has crossed over from (Rick and Morty) to become a reality in the labs of the Base public chain — it is an AI Agent full of wild ideas, focused on transforming ephemeral ideas into real Meme tokens through social media and smart contracts. Imagine, like Rick, casually waving, @clanker directly deploying an ERC-20 token on Farcaster, complete with liquidity pools and smart lock features — this is not just technological magic but a carnival of decentralized narratives. Clanker simplifies operation processes, relies on the Clanker.sol contract to mint ERC-20 tokens, initialize Uniswap V3 pools, inject and lock liquidity, and users only need to initiate a simple request on Farcaster to easily complete the deployment and distribution of tokens. It has already created several meme tokens with a market cap exceeding ten million dollars. It breaks down technical barriers, allowing everyone the opportunity to become creators of the Meme economy while creating real profits for the community through a 40% fee-sharing mechanism.
Clanker technical implementation flowchart.
However, this carnival is not just for entertainment. Clanker is exploring how to integrate the concept of DeSci (decentralized science) into its system. For example, future tokens may no longer just be humorous or sentimental, but rather carry functions for research funding, sharing experimental results, or supporting open-source tools. Just as Rick invents solutions to cosmic problems, Clanker's tokens may become experimental tools for the scientific community, providing new funding models for scientists while reshaping the academic trust system with on-chain transparency. This combination of DeSci and Meme is not only refreshing but also opens up an unexpected future for blockchain applications.
Clanker is such a crazy and creative laboratory, constantly expanding the boundaries of Web3 amidst laughter and innovation. Who knows, the next industry it rewrites the rules for might be science?
Market performance of the three major tokens: CLANKER, LUM, ANON.
The issuance stories of the three major tokens: CLANKER, LUM, ANON, especially the combination of ANON and the anonymous posting tool anoncast, even attracted the attention of Ethereum founder Vitalik. It is also worth noting that the birth of AI Meme Luminous ($LUM) originated from a spark of inspiration in the Farcaster community, where a user proposed the bold idea of creating a token that symbolizes the achievements of human and AI collaboration: an intertwined flow of blue and gold light representing AI and human consciousness, forming an infinite loop, with a deep space background conveying a sense of technology and futurism. Through the Clanker platform, this idea was quickly realized, with the processes of token minting, Uniswap V3 pool initialization, liquidity injection and locking, and a 40% transaction fee rebate mechanism all automated. $LUM not only reduces technical barriers through simplified operation processes but also quickly attracts community attention with its narrative theme of 'human and AI collaboration' and artistic visual design, becoming a cultural symbol within the Base ecosystem. Relying on strong community dissemination power, $LUM has seen its market value surpass 30 million dollars from inspiration.
On one hand, Clanker, as an innovative platform, has significantly lowered the technical barrier by simplifying user operation processes (such as generating tokens directly through @clanker) and collaborating with AI to issue tokens, enabling anyone to participate in the creation and dissemination of meme tokens. On the other hand, spectators cannot help but doubt whether the Clanker model can be sustained? As a 'crypto-circular' project, its current model focuses on speculation and dissemination, lacking actual 'use' scenarios. The author would like to cite the thoughts of cultural anthropologists, noting that in reality, a culture is neither a purely physical process nor a construction of idealism. It is a living entity rooted in the soil, encompassing the simple instinctive lives of shepherds, fishermen, and farmers, as well as the highest achievements of artists and philosophers; just as individuals closely link the nutrition and reproduction of animal life with higher rational and intellectual activities. As the world shifts from the tangible to the intangible, Clanker may not only be a technical tool, but more so the core engine of innovation and cultural dissemination within the Base ecosystem, gradually promoting community interaction and the release of creativity.
Virtual Protocol: An inspiring entrepreneurial story in the crypto circle.
Although both belong to the Base ecosystem, Virtual has chosen a completely different path: focusing on product-driven development, emphasizing the connection between AI and Web2 users, and gradually building a high-frequency tool system. The views of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and A16Z co-founder Marc Andreessen point out the unique advantages of the Virtual team in high-frequency trial and error. From PathDAO to Virtual Protocol, the team took three years to leap from GameFi, AI infrastructure, to consumer DApps, achieving a market cap miracle from $10 million to $1 billion.
The early GitHub of PathDAO and the Twitter of the ecosystem leader.
Virtual includes a diverse product line, including modules such as MyShell's App Store. Although the market value and call volume of individual products do not match Clanker’s meme in the crypto circle, they have opened up space in Web2 tooling scenarios. $VIRTUAL is the native token of the Virtual Protocol platform, specifically designed for the AI agent ecosystem. Users need to use $VIRTUAL to purchase AGENT tokens (such as $LUNA) and cannot exchange them through other tokens, making $VIRTUAL the only gateway to enter this ecosystem and to purchase and invest in AI agents. The VIRTUAL token plays a key role throughout the system, driving economic activity within the platform and ensuring decentralization and fair distribution. Most agents on the platform are intellectual property agents representing specific personalities or roles, such as virtual beings, frogs, memes, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, etc. Meanwhile, developers are also creating functional agents to enhance user interaction with AI virtual beings and ensure seamless integration into the virtual world. These agents can not only generate real income but also achieve long-term growth and shared ownership through tokenization mechanisms, allowing participants who hold $VIRTUAL tokens and purchase $LUNA tokens to share in the potential returns brought by the agents.
However, Virtual is still questioned by Degen about whether its 'usability' of tool-type products is 'putting the cart before the horse'? As a cryptocurrency ecosystem project, its core is 'use', not 'speculation', but does this mean it loses its dissemination value?
Clanker: The 'Rebel' of Liangshan.
Clanker is more like Song Jiang when he was forced to lead the Liangshan uprising, using his organizational power and dissemination effect to allow a group of heroic outlaws to secure a place in turbulent times. Clanker attracts a large number of crypto users' attention by creating hot meme tokens, fostering a frenzied market atmosphere, much like Liangshan's slogan of 'acting on behalf of heaven', spreading the ideology of the uprising across the land.
But the problem is that Liangshan's brand ultimately is just a slogan, lacking lasting support. Many of the tokens issued by Clanker have high market values but remain at the conceptual level, without solid use cases. This model resembles Liangshan's desperate attempt to survive in chaotic times, continually expanding influence through 'speculation', but may not be able to sustain itself for the long term.
Virtual: The 'Faction of Loyalty' of Liangshan.
In contrast, Virtual's path resembles the faction of loyalty within Liangshan. Their core demand is not resistance but to ensure that their brothers have food and drink, pursuing stability and order. Virtual focuses on refining product functionality, empowering users through AI tools, and building a bridge between Web2 and Web3, resembling Liangshan's efforts to maintain its 'orthodox status' after accepting government loyalty.
Virtual emphasizes 'use', not 'speculation'. Its tool-type products are frequently called upon but lack the dissemination effect of cryptocurrencies, akin to Liangshan after accepting the government, which resolved short-term livelihood issues but lost the initial spirit of resistance. This model may be more stable in the short term, but whether it can continue to uphold the ideological value of cryptocurrencies remains uncertain.
Ideological resistance vs. livelihood compromise.
The core contradiction of the Liangshan uprising lies in the game between the ideology of resistance and the reality of survival. Song Jiang's 'acting on behalf of heaven' represents the spirit of resistance, while the ultimate loyalty is a choice to find a realistic home for the brothers. This shift demonstrates the conflict between ideals and reality — the ideal is resistance, and the reality is compromise.
Similarly, the divergence between Clanker and Virtual reflects another contradiction in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the opposition between 'speculation' and 'use', which actually reflects deeper issues in cryptocurrency: as BTC and ETH gradually gain mainstream acceptance and enter the era of war reserves and compliance, do we need more product innovation or stronger ideological dissemination? Just as Song Jiang reflected while overlooking the army camp from the mountain: 'As we are bandits, how can we not return to loyalty to the court? If we are to rebel, it is only for a stable life, how can we forever be rebellious people?' This statement aptly expresses the mental journey from resistance to realistic compromise and provides a mirror for us to think about the future of cryptocurrency.
