Key facts: “I want to see higher quality fun projects,” says Buterin. Buterin rejects memecoins that pay homage to scams, thefts, totalitarian movements, etc. Every bull cycle for bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies has had its fads. Years ago, ICOs, fan tokens, metaverses and DeFi, among others, gained relevance. In recent months, memecoins have grown in popularity and increased their capitalization. Memecoins are cryptocurrencies and tokens based on internet memes or cultural or humorous symbols. Various breeds of dogs, lizards (such as the Argentine memecoin Magaiba), politicians and foods have been honored as memecoins. The practical usefulness of these coins is zero. They do not solve any problem of humanity. They only serve for financial speculation. Their creators and adherents say they are for fun. Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin gave his opinion on the topic on March 29. In one of his blogs he published an article under the title “What else could memecoins be?” He says Buterin that, currently, these tokens are making many people uncomfortable “because there is nothing particularly new and interesting about memecoins”. What's more, the Russian-Canadian computer scientist adds that «apparently, a lot of Solana memecoins have been openly super racist.» He rounds out his criticism by asserting that “even non-racist memecoins often seem to simply go up and down in price and provide nothing of value in their wake.” Given this, many criticize memecoins, pointing them out as something hateful. «To some extent, this is the right thing to do,» says Buterin, but he reflects: «if people like to have fun, and 'financial games' seem, at least sometimes, to provide that, could there be a version of this concept that is more of a positive sum? As example of «positive» memecoinsVitalik Buterin mentions charity cryptocurrencies:
Among the most interesting coins I've seen are coins where a large portion of the token supply (or some ongoing fee mechanism) is dedicated to some type of charity. A year and a half ago, there was a coin (no longer active) called “GiveWell Inu” that donated its income to GiveWell. For the past two years, there has been a coin called «Fable of the Dragon Tyrant» that supported cultural projects related to anti-aging research, in addition to other causes. Vitalik Buterin, co-creator of Ethereum.
But, despite his enthusiasm, Buterin concludes thatThe scope that these currencies can have is limited, so something better could be done.
That superior and fun alternative would be games. But Buterin, when saying this, is not referring to the typical play-to-earn games that have emerged so far, but to «really meaningful and fun games.» He details: “Don't think of Candy Crush on the blockchain; think World of Warcraft on the blockchain. Developments like this would attract large capital from players who could (and Buterin emphasizes the «could») benefit low-income users.
«Charity currencies and games could even be combined: one of the features of the game could be a mechanism where players who succeed in some task can participate in voting to which charities the issued funds are distributed to.» Vitalik Buterin, co-creator of Ethereum.
In any case, the computer developer recognizes that “making a genuinely fun game is a challenge,” but you have to keep trying. «Ideally, the goal is to make a co-created environment that leaves all players happy. Because money is zero-sum, but fun can be positive-sum,” he explains.
Vitalik Buterin: we must highlight the good even in what we don't like
As a final reflection, Buterin reveals what he calls one of his personal moral rules:
«If there are a class of people or groups you don't like, you should be willing to praise at least some of them who do the best job satisfying your values. If you don't like governments because they violate people's freedoms, maybe you can find room in your heart to say something nice about the Swiss. If you don't like social media platforms for being extractive and encouraging toxic behavior, but you think Reddit is 2x less bad, say good things about Reddit. The opposite approach (yelling 'Yes, all future». Vitalik Buterin, co-creator of Ethereum.
He applies the same to his tastes within the cryptocurrency industry. Buterin claims to have no enthusiasm for coins named after totalitarian political movements, scams, thefts or anything that feels exciting to him now but leaves everyone upset later. In addition, appreciate that there are people who find memecoins fun. That's why he says he wants to «see fun, good quality projects that contribute positively to the ecosystem and the world around them.» Buterin confesses that he prefers there to be «more good memecoins than bad, ideally those that support public goods rather than just enriching early investors and creators.» And he puts an end to his writing by saying that the ideal would be to «make games instead of coins and make projects that people enjoy participating in.»