Meme. Four letters, two syllables. And a universal code word. A concept understood by everyone, regardless of realms: Web 1, Web 2, Web 3, Web 6529.

For the uninitiated, so why are memes important? What exactly are Memes?

For starters, I cannot do no better than a quote from the king himself, Elon Musk:

Next, what’s exactly are Memes? Here’s a dictionary definition:

In short, I see memes as something that everyone can identify with, relate to & often laugh at or evoke certain emotional or psychological attachment. Memes are Unifying. Memes are built on Shared Experiences.

Below are some examples of iconic memes you may recognize:

So, what are Meme Cards or The Memes Collection?

As per the official site: “The Memes Collection is focused on the fight for the open metaverse (decentralization, community, self-sovereignty) and spreading this message to many people, many wallets.”

In my opinion, as governments and large corporations like Meta & Apple continue to build up closed permission-ed systems: Building and supporting initiatives/projects that fight for an open decentralized permission-less world is key to securing a free world for us and our progeny.

Next so why cards?

Someone would say they are NOT even PFPs which I can flex on my socials or build my identity around like punk6529’s hoodie punk?

To that I would say, collecting things and in particular cards has been something that has been popular. Look up Pokemon cards especially rare ones at mint condition or for those older: Magic the Gathering cards. Or those much much older, recall the Mickey Mantle baseball card?

The point is there’s something about cards that make it an ultimate collectible.

I think the “OG” of cards in the Web 3 World is the Rare Pepe Cards with the Nakamoto card being the grail (see below).

I think by now, it’s abundantly clear that it cannot just be some random cards. Other factors come into play. What then are such factors?

History is one factor albeit to a lesser extent because Curio Cards was the first “card” to be launched on the ETH blockchain and technically it should be the equivalent of the Pepe Cards on the bitcoin (BTC) blockchain.

But it’s NOT. Why? See the screenshot below and it should be self-explanatory.

Besides history, it has be to Cultural or Meme-able which are imo shorthand for relatable/identifiable/evoking emotion. And that’s where the Meme Cards (mostly) hit the nail with messages like “Don’t let the institutions steal our jpegs” to “GM”s to iconic Web-3 artists and their work. This is why I believe that the Meme Cards will become the Pepe Card equivalent but on the Ethereum blockchain.

That said, history should play a crucial part with Season 1 being the most important especially being the only season in 2022 and that’s written into the blockchain history.

So, what does the Meme Card mean to me as a self-proclaimed meme maxi?

I see the Meme Cards as follows:

a. Version of Pepe Cards BUT on the ETH blockchain

b. Curation service (like a curator at a museum): Meme Cards gives me an opportunity to discover art & artists that I otherwise might not have known and at a low cost

c. Discoverability for lesser-known artist: Supporting & shining light to lesser-known artists & giving them a boost in terms of visibility

d. Meme Power (go back to start of the article)

e. 6529 & What he stands for: the ultimate thread guy (not for engagement or pumps) but for knowledge. Invest in people or put trust in people smarter than you.

f. Community Loyal creative & immensely talented group of meme maxis that spring out ReMemes, DAOs etc

A combination of the above should allow the value of Meme Cards to stand the test of time. NFA though.

Circling back to the official word on meme cards, I would like to share my take on “many people, many wallets” given that meme cards are CC0.

For the uninitiated and in very broad layman terms, CC0 means that you can do anything with the Meme Cards and the art even if you do NOT own them. Not going to cover why the Meme Cards still have value despite it being CC0 and offers little to no IP protection (that perhaps for anothe day).

Instead, I think whilst noble to say that anyone can join 6529’s OM vision/mission even if one does not own a meme card, we are humans after all. Ownership of something and by logical extension financial interest is key in getting people to feel vested and fight harder towards an open metaverse.

Put simply, if one does NOT have direct skin or financial incentives in the game, it is much harder for that one person to go the extra mile.

Ok, as with any pitch or NFA, what are the risks or areas that I dislike?

1. Key Man Risk

Ultimately, I think that 6529 thrives on being the anon, so any doxing might lead to disappointment alongside the fact that missteps especially those that amounts to character might cause an exodus of supporters. None of these are likely to happen and I think 6529 is aware and have built towards not needing 6529 and having a team of solid developers, artists, and smartest brains in the space.

2. Dilution & Cyclical Interest

Note that the Meme Cards are probably going to go on for a very long term akin to an almost unlimited season and uncapped cards per season. That assumes that over the long term, there would be sustained interest in Meme Cards and the quality of curation won’t drop. Given that I am assuming, they will be all on the same OS link, a lower floor as seasons progresses might have a cascading effect.

3. Logical Inconsistency

I call a spade a spade. I think there are at times logical inconsistency in the short term with stated objectives & missions like wanting to onboard more people hence having a very broad & relaxed AL but in fact achieves none of it given you need to be an existing owner of a Meme Card or the artists’ work. Other examples including the advice that it’s better to keep cards in ONE wallet vis splitting them into multiple wallets. So far, that has not come to fruition.

4. Gas Wars & Horrible Minting Experience

Unless something changes, as at the time of writing, if you are a new person joining the Meme Card ecosystem, be prepared for a horrible minting experience of nerves, failed gas as well as unequal playing ground losing to nodes and minting bots.

Be that as it may be, I am still ultra-bullish on the Meme Cards for the many reasons stated earlier in the article. I am going to end the article with some useful links and a positive message.

For those who are interested in finding out more, here are my top 2 starting points.

Ultimate thread on the Meme Cards by punk6529 himself:

https://twitter.com/punk6529/status/1534965126901682181

For those into data (edition size, collector numbers etc), here’s a great link that maps out all the data: https://dune.com/cat/memes-by-6529

My final advice for those on the fence and thinking of jumping in: Only buy the meme cards if you vibe with. Buy for the art, the culture and the message/mission. Expect nothing so that everything given would be a bonus.

Let’s Seize the Memes of Production: Season 4 and Beyond, here we come. And of course a meme to thank you for reading till here: