Memecoins are a controversial matter that I normally exit of my solution to keep away from. Whereas some view them as a lighthearted solution to have interaction with the crypto group, others see them as nothing greater than a speculative gamble with no actual worth. Additional, my private view is that a lot of the memecoin sector hurts blockchain greater than it helps. I’ve nothing in opposition to individuals playing with memecoins, however we should always deal with playing as playing and never conceal behind the false narratives of ‘group.’

That mentioned, and amid this debate, the Lens Protocol-based mission Bonsai has emerged as an outlier.

In contrast to many memecoins that rely solely on hype and hypothesis, Bonsai has taken a special method. By integrating with the Lens Protocol, Bonsai has develop into an important device for content material creators to monetize their work and interact with their communities.

Since its launch on March 4, Bonsai has gained vital traction inside the Lens ecosystem. It has develop into the popular foreign money for monetizable content material, with a market share of round 77% of paid mints on Lens. Creators have earned over 3 million value of $BONSAI (roughly $240,000 as of April 4). This demonstrates that memecoins may be greater than only a fleeting development – they will have real-world purposes that profit each creators and their audiences.

Nevertheless, that has not stopped the worth from rallying as any ‘good’ memecoin can. Up to now month, it has surged by 2,000% since Lens customers have been first airdropped tokens.

What’s Bonsai?

Bonsai is an revolutionary token launched on the Polygon blockchain, particularly designed for the Lens Protocol ecosystem. It combines the options of an ERC-20 token (BONSAI) and an ERC-721 non-fungible token (BONSAI NFT) in a singular implementation known as DN-404.

One of many key options of DN-404 tokens is their fractionalization mechanism. Each 100,000 BONSAI tokens held in a pockets are equal to 1 BONSAI NFT. Which means that customers routinely personal NFTs based mostly on the variety of BONSAI tokens they maintain. If the token steadiness drops under 100,000, the corresponding NFT is misplaced. This distinctive interplay between the token and NFT contracts permits for seamless transfers and possession monitoring.

Bonsai has a complete provide of 100 million tokens, with 60% allotted to the group by way of varied airdrops and ecosystem help initiatives. The primary airdrop was carried out at launch, distributing 10% of the entire provide to lively Lens customers. Subsequent airdrops have rewarded group engagement and progress. A second airdrop occurred not too long ago on Orb, and the Orb group celebrated including minting performance to its app with a further BONSAI airdrop for early adopters. The remaining token allocation contains 15% for the group, 10% for buyers, and 15% for liquidity.

Finally, the token serves as a group foreign money for builders, explorers, and early adopters of on-chain social platforms inside the Lens ecosystem. It allows customers to carry out varied on-chain actions instantly from their Lens posts, corresponding to accumulating posts as NFTs, tipping, swapping tokens, and fascinating in DeFi actions.

Whereas different socialFi ecosystems corresponding to Deso and Farcaster have utilized tokens to reward customers, the character of the Bonsai implementation feels distinctive as a result of energy of the underlying protocol, Lens. Lens permits each put up to be collected as an NFT. Additional, extra performance may be programmed into the mint on the click on of a button. Creators can share royalties with collaborators, share revenue with followers who share content material, and even assign business rights to those that acquire posts. All of that is potential natively with Lens with none coding abilities.

Bonsai’s success results in a $100 million valuation.

Bonsai’s success has attracted vital funding from main figures and organizations within the crypto and enterprise capital sectors. The latest $1 million angel funding spherical, which propelled the token’s market cap to almost $100 million, is a testomony to buyers’ religion in Bonsai’s potential to revolutionize content material monetization on blockchain networks. This help from trade leaders additional validates Bonsai’s method and highlights the rising recognition of memecoins as a legit avenue for driving group worth.

Bonsai stands out as a beacon of hope in an area the place many memecoins are criticized for his or her lack of substance and doubtlessly dangerous impacts. By aligning with the values of content material possession, social graph portability, and on-chain social actions, Bonsai is redefining what it means to be a memecoin. Somewhat than merely fueling hypothesis and hype, Bonsai fosters a group that rewards engagement, brings worth to the ecosystem, and gives creators truthful compensation for his or her work. Because the crypto panorama continues to evolve, initiatives like Bonsai function an inspiration for the way memecoins may be leveraged to drive actual, significant change and create a extra equitable and sustainable future for all.

Bonsai is supported by a variety of purposes inside the Lens ecosystem, together with Hey, Orb, Buttrfly, Kaira, Lenscan, Orna, Tape, Bloomers, Lenspeer, MadFi, wav3s, and Trustmebro. These purposes leverage the $BONSAI token for varied functions, corresponding to consumer acquisition, engagement, and monetization.

The group behind Bonsai, MadFi, states it’s dedicated to constructing capabilities that help the creator financial system. They imagine that tokens can align platforms, creators, and customers, offering efficient monetization choices for content material creators, particularly these within the lengthy tail who would possibly in any other case be marginalized.

General, Bonsai represents an thrilling growth within the Lens Protocol ecosystem, providing a singular and revolutionary method to token economics, group engagement, and creator monetization. Its speedy adoption and progress display the potential for on-chain social platforms to revolutionize how creators and customers work together and derive worth from their content material and engagement.

Bonsai, up so far, has the potential to develop into a shining instance of how memecoins may be redefined to drive real group worth. Some will argue DEGEN was the primary ‘group token’ however my view is that there’s nonetheless big hypothesis round curiosity in DEGEN.

Bonsai was not born off customers hoping to get wealthy, it was born from a need to commerce memes, music, and artwork on social media utilizing a enjoyable digital foreign money. For me, that is the definition of a real memecoin and positively that of a group token.

Disclaimer: I acquired an airdrop of Bonsai for my contributions to Lens Protocol, and I’ve earned Bonsai from customers accumulating my posts. I’ve additionally given away as much as 90% of the Bonsai I’ve earned from particular posts by way of the mirror referral system on Lens.

My whole Bonsai holdings are round 25,000 as of press time. I truthfully don’t care a lot in regards to the worth of the tokens; as an alternative, I worth what they facilitate on Lens. I spend my BONSAI freely accumulating content material from others, so if you happen to make collectible content material on Lens, be happy to tag me: akiba.lens.

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