One of many huge tendencies in Web3 in 2023 has been the rise of memecoins, cryptocurrencies also referred to as “shitcoins” which can be themed round a viral web development. Their lighthearted nature is simply a part of their enchantment; with sufficient momentum surrounding them, they’ll herald severe income for early patrons resulting from their excessive volatility.
One of the vital profitable memecoins to interrupt onto the scene in current weeks was $TURBO, an experimental venture by the digital artist Rhett Dashwood (Mankind) that, at its peak, had a market cap of $50 million. Dashwood had created the token from scratch with the assistance of ChatGPT and recommendation from his Twitter followers. Its success earned Dashwood respect amongst $TURBO holders and the broader Web3 neighborhood alike for his creativity and willingness to construct along with his neighborhood.
On June 1, Dashwood introduced his subsequent experimental venture: an endeavor to create both a brand new $1 billion crypto token or NFT art work. In consequence, he’s going through some pointed criticisms from the identical neighborhood that lauded him for his work with $TURBO. Right here’s what it’s essential find out about $CLOWN.
$CLOWN has entered the chat
“The circus is in town,” Dashwood wrote in a Tweet asserting the experiment earlier than offering his followers an handle to ship ETH. “We’re all clowns. Enjoy the show. As an art/ai/social experiment I’ve asked ChatGPT if it can create a billion $ coin or artwork.”
1/8$CLOWN or Crypto Clown artwork. The circus is on the town. We’re all clowns. Benefit from the present. As an artwork/ai/social experiment I’ve requested ChatGPT if it may well create a billion $ coin or art work. 🤡🖼️💰 observe alongside 👇
Be certain to learn the entire thread earlier than sending ETH to: clownbag.eth pic.twitter.com/DJn3yRZRk0
— Rhett Mankind (@rhett) June 1, 2023
Aside from the token’s intrinsic worth, no matter that seems to be, the one utility it’s going to have is to bid on a chunk of crypto artwork depicting a clown. Dashwood’s conceptual framing right here is to confront individuals with a selection between artwork and cash. The selection of the clown theme comes from criticisms Dashwood has obtained over the months for working within the NFT area and with crypto tokens.
“I’ve heard countless times, I’m a clown for selling digital art, a clown for doing crypto, a clown for using AI, a clown for creating a token, so I either embrace the clown or fear it forever,” Dashwood elaborated in his Twitter thread.
These considering taking part within the experiment have every week to ship their ETH to an handle Dashwood supplied within the Twitter thread and obtain an “equitable split” of the token provide primarily based on the ETH proportion of the entire quantity obtained. Sooner or later within the venture, there shall be a 1/1 artwork public sale of clown-themed artwork that $CLOWN holders can use their tokens to bid on.
Dashwood says the experiment is totally decentralized, with no web sites or social pages to talk of, and that he is not going to withhold any quantity of the tokens. “Expect absolutely nothing of me after release,” he stated of the experiment.
The backlash
It’s that final bit concerning expectations that appears to have earned Dashwood the ire of a few of his followers. That is partially because of the emergence of one other current development within the Web3 panorama by which social media influencers ask their followers to ship them cash for both a shady memecoin providing or, in some circumstances, completely nothing in return.
A few of these efforts have seen influencers earn tens of millions in a couple of days, souring artists (and their collectors) within the Web3 area who’ve spent months or years working to offer worth to the digital artwork ecosystem and be correctly compensated for doing so.
I used to be totally supportive of the $Turbo experiment
However this one offers off 🚩🚩 imo.
– “Expect absolutely nothing of me after release”Additionally in all probability not sensible to answer individuals’s feedback with clown emojis
— BenJammin.eth 🍌 (@xBenJamminx) June 1, 2023
In a daring show of committing to the bit, Dashwood has been responding to individuals’s criticisms with a wide range of clown-centric GIFs. Nevertheless, not all of Dashwood’s followers criticized the thought, with a number of wishing the artist luck with the experiment.
$CLOWN, $TURBO, and memecoin empires
Dashwood is definitely able to pulling off a large-scale conceptual experiment like this, as evidenced by his success with $TURBO, a venture he has since handed over to the neighborhood that helped construct it. The artist’s potential to play with new know-how and tendencies is exactly what made $TURBO enjoyable to look at. As Dashwood leans into difficult optics in his newest experiment, it’s going to require a deft contact to keep away from being lumped into the identical class as somebody like Ben.eth, who not too long ago launched his third crypto token in almost as many weeks.
