In just a few months, Base has quickly risen from a relatively unknown Layer 2 project to a leader in the Ethereum-compatible ecosystem, with a Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding $3.85 billion, surpassing Arbitrum and Optimism, becoming the most competitive new giant in the Layer 2 market. With the strong backing of Coinbase and support from North American capital, the Base ecosystem experienced explosive growth in 2024, with inflows in November exceeding Solana, making it one of the hottest wealth tracks in the blockchain field. However, despite the significant achievements in capital inflows 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 value of 70 million dollars, reflecting the enormous attraction of the Base ecosystem and the current craze. Unlike traditional VC token plays, the rise of Meme tokens drives on-chain data and user transaction behavior back to exchange listings, forming a new ecological model. Users accumulate chips on-chain and then utilize exchange liquidity to exit, pushing centralized exchanges (CEX) into the market's corners, which I believe is a strong indication of the true beginning of a bull market, similar to the on-chain liquidity scene during the DeFi Summer explosion in 2020. This innovative mechanism showcases the vitality of the Base ecosystem while exposing the challenges it still faces in market competition.
On-chain data comparison between Base and Solana on Artemis
The relationship between public chains and ecosystem projects is like a couple dancing together, inseparable and mutually supportive. Whether Base, as a public chain, can leverage AI Agent 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 in the Base ecosystem and rise with market heat is also worth noting. Clanker and Virtual Protocol are representative projects in the current Base boom; the former is a 'machine for creating popular Memes,' while the latter spans from GameFi to AI infrastructure to consumer platforms, capturing market trends and becoming a focal point. Through the rise of these projects, we see the attractiveness of the Base ecosystem and the current market boom, highlighting the deep entanglements of interests and tacit understanding between public chains and projects. Although the romance is boundless, it is still filled with the driving forces of business and market interests.
Clanker: The 'Hit Meme' Maker of the Base Ecosystem
Clanker is like a crazy invention that has crossed over from (Rick and Morty), becoming a reality in the laboratory of the Base public chain—it is an AI Agent full of quirky ideas, focused on turning ethereal ideas into real Meme tokens using social media and smart contracts. Imagine, like Rick, waving your hand, and @clanker directly deploys an ERC-20 token on Farcaster, complete with a liquidity pool and smart lock features—this is not just a technological magic trick, but a carnival of decentralized narrative. Clanker simplifies the operation process and relies on the Clanker.sol contract to realize the minting of ERC-20 tokens, initialization of Uniswap V3 pools, liquidity injection, and locking. Users only need to initiate a simple request on Farcaster to easily complete the deployment and distribution of tokens, and has already created several Meme tokens with market values exceeding ten million dollars. It breaks down technical barriers, allowing everyone the opportunity to become a creator in the Meme economy, while creating tangible benefits for the community through a 40% transaction 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 not only be humorous or sentimental, but also carry functions for scientific funding, sharing experimental results, or supporting open-source tools. Just like Rick inventing solutions to cosmic problems, Clanker's tokens may become experimental tools in the scientific community, providing new funding models for scientists and 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 a crazy and creative laboratory that continuously expands the boundaries of Web3 amidst laughter and innovation. Who knows, will the next industry to have its rules rewritten by it be science?
Market performance of the three major tokens CLANKER, LUM, and ANON
The issuance stories of the three major tokens CLANKER, LUM, and ANON, especially the combination of ANON and the anonymous posting tool anoncast, have even attracted the attention of Ethereum founder Vitalik. It is also worth noting that the birth of AI Meme Luminous ($LUM) originated from an inspiration collision in the Farcaster community, where a user proposed the bold idea of creating a token symbolizing the collaborative achievements of humans and AI: interwoven blue and gold light streams represent AI and human consciousness, forming an infinite loop, while the deep space background conveys a sense of technology and futurism. Through the Clanker platform, this idea was quickly realized, with the entire process of token minting, Uniswap V3 pool initialization, liquidity injection, and locking, as well as the design of a 40% transaction fee feedback mechanism, all automated. $LUM not only lowers the technical barriers with a simplified operation process but also quickly attracts community attention with the narrative theme of 'human and AI collaboration' and artistic visual design, becoming a cultural symbol within the Base ecosystem. Relying on strong community dissemination, $LUM's market value has now exceeded 30 million dollars.
On one hand, Clanker, as an innovative platform, greatly lowers the technical threshold by simplifying user operation processes (such as directly generating tokens through @clanker) and collaborating with AI to issue tokens, allowing anyone to participate in the creation and dissemination of Meme tokens. On the other hand, spectators cannot help but question whether Clanker's model can be sustained? As a 'crypto-fied' project, its current model emphasizes speculation and dissemination, lacking actual 'utility' scenarios. I would like to invoke the thoughts of cultural anthropologists, noting that in reality, a culture is neither a purely physical process nor an idealistic construct. It is a living entity rooted in the soil, encompassing the simple instinctual lives of shepherds, fishermen, and farmers, as well as the highest achievements of artists and philosophers; just as individuals tightly integrate the nourishment and reproduction of animal life with higher rational and intellectual activities. As the world transitions 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: Inspirational Startups in the Crypto World
Although both belong to the Base ecosystem, Virtual has chosen a completely different path: focusing on product-driven core, emphasizing the connection between AI and Web2 users, gradually building a high-frequency 'utility' tool system. According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and A16Z co-founder Marc Andreessen, the Virtual team possesses unique advantages in high-frequency trial and error. From PathDAO to Virtual Protocol, the team has achieved a miracle of market value growth from 10 million dollars to 1 billion dollars over three years.
Early GitHub of PathDAO and the Twitter of the ecosystem leader
Virtual includes a diverse product line, including modules like MyShell's App Store, although the market value and usage of individual products do not match Clanker's crypto Meme, it has opened up space in the Web2 tool scene. $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 through other tokens, making $VIRTUAL the only gateway to enter this ecosystem and purchase and invest in AI agents. The VIRTUAL token plays a crucial role throughout the system, driving economic activities on the platform, ensuring decentralization and fair distribution. Most agents on the platform represent specific personalities or characters, such as virtual beings, frogs, memes, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, etc. Additionally, developers are also creating functional agents to enhance user interaction with AI virtual beings and ensure their seamless integration into the virtual world. These agents can not only generate real income but also achieve long-term growth and collective ownership through tokenization, allowing participants who hold $VIRTUAL tokens and purchase $LUNA tokens to share in the potential returns from the agents.
However, Virtual has been questioned by Degen regarding its 'usability'—does its tool-like product 'miss the point'? As a cryptocurrency ecosystem project, its core is 'utility,' rather than 'speculation,' but has it thereby lost its propagation value?
Clanker: The 'Rebel' of Liangshan
Clanker resembles Song Jiang when he was forced to lead the Liangshan uprising, using its organizational strength and propagation effect to enable a group of grassroots heroes to secure a place in chaotic times. Clanker has attracted a large number of crypto users' attention by creating hot Meme tokens, generating a fervent market atmosphere, akin to Liangshan's slogan of 'Acting on Heaven's Will,' disseminating the ideology of rebellion across the land.
But the problem is that Liangshan's banner ultimately serves as merely a slogan, lacking long-term support. Many tokens issued by Clanker have high market values, yet remain at the conceptual level without solid usage scenarios. This model resembles Liangshan's desperate struggle for survival in chaotic times, continuously expanding influence through 'speculation,' but may not sustain itself in the long run.
Virtual: The 'Surrender Faction' of Liangshan
In contrast, Virtual's path resembles the surrender faction within Liangshan. Their core demand is not rebellion but rather 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 bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3, much like Liangshan's efforts to maintain its 'legitimate status' after accepting the court's surrender.
Virtual emphasizes 'utility' rather than 'speculation.' Its tool-like products, although frequently called upon, lack the propagation effect of cryptocurrency, much like Liangshan after surrendering; while it has solved short-term livelihood issues, it has lost its original spirit of resistance. This model may be more stable in the short term, but whether it can sustain the ideological value of cryptocurrency remains uncertain.
Ideological Resistance vs. Compromise for Livelihood
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 Heaven's Will' represents the spirit of resistance, while the eventual surrender is a choice to find a realistic home for his brothers. This transformation showcases the conflict between ideals and reality—ideals are resistance, while reality is compromise.
Similarly, the divergence between Clanker and Virtual reflects another contradiction in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the opposition between 'speculation' and 'utility,' which actually reflects a deeper issue in cryptocurrency: as BTC and ETH gradually gain mainstream acceptance and enter an era of strategic reserves and compliance, do we need more product innovation or stronger ideological dissemination? Just as Song Jiang lamented while overlooking the camp from the mountain: 'Since we are grass bandits, how can we not return to the court? If we cause chaos, it is only to seek a stable life; how can we forever be chaotic people?' This statement aptly expresses the psychological journey from resistance to pragmatic compromise, also providing a mirror for us to contemplate the future of cryptocurrency.
