When memes caught wind of the SocialFi update representing Farcaster, the storyline took a new turn
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
When memes caught wind of the SocialFi update representing Farcaster, the storyline took a new turn
Web3 Social's New Narrative: The Launchpad for Memes
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsText: Fu Ruheshi, Odaily Planet Daily
Social has always been the brightest gem on the internet’s "crown," serving as the primary battleground for Web2 traffic. However, Web3 social has failed to carry forward this tradition, still struggling to identify clear user needs and remaining relatively niche. Although individual projects occasionally surge in popularity, their momentum inevitably fades over time.
But what if meme tokens—the most emotionally charged drivers of market sentiment—are combined with social? Could this be the key to unlocking Web3 social's potential?
Recently, Farcaster, a leading Web3 social protocol, might offer some answers.
Farcaster is a decentralized social protocol built on Ethereum, leveraging it for user identity management. The protocol uses an L2 network to propagate updates across its nodes (known as Farcaster Hubs), with Warpcast being the official client. Initially launched under an invite-only model, early users and developers were primarily VCs and Ethereum core contributors. In October 2023, Farcaster opened up permissionless registration, allowing any developer to build applications on the protocol.
Then, on January 27th this year, Farcaster introduced Farcaster Frame—an interactive feature extending the OpenGraph standard. Frames transform static embeds into dynamic experiences, enabling users to engage with polls, live updates, or interactive galleries directly within Warpcast or any other Farcaster client. Developers can now let users interact with products through deep integration into the Warpcast feed via simple clicks.
The launch of this feature triggered a surge in Farcaster’s DAU (daily active users), consistently hitting new highs starting from January 26th. The chart below shows data compiled by pixelhack on DUNE.
While the protocol's own feature upgrades contributed to the rise in DAU, meme tokens also played a crucial role. Originally intended as a supplementary sales channel for NFT creators, the Frame feature unexpectedly became a powerful engine for viral meme propagation.
According to the Farcaster popularity leaderboard over the past seven days, top-ranking posts are overwhelmingly meme-driven.
In this latest wave linking meme tokens and Farcaster, most memes have been minted on Base—coined the "Base MEME Season." This echoes last year’s viral success of Friend.tech on the same chain. But this time, Farcaster-related meme coins have produced a true "golden dog" with a market cap exceeding $100 million: Degen.
Degen emerged during the recent wave of token launches on Warpcast, but its unique token acquisition mechanics deeply integrate Farcaster and meme culture, allowing it to stand out in this latest meme frenzy.
The Degen model is quite simple. According to its tokenomics, DEGEN has a total supply of 37 billion tokens, all minted at genesis. After four years, it will transition to a permanent annual inflation rate of 1%. The token distribution is shown in the image below:
Of the 70% allocated to the community: 15% went to Airdrop 1 (completed); 20% is allocated to Airdrop 2 (ongoing); 25% reserved for Airdrop 3; and 10% dedicated to liquidity mining.
Of the 15% set aside for project development and ecosystem growth: 10% is locked until July 8, 2024, with the remaining 5% vesting over two years. The remaining 15% serves as LP allocation.
During Airdrop 1, users received tokens based on the number of posts they made on Warpcast containing the token symbol. That phase has now ended.
Airdrop 2 is currently active and emphasizes user interaction. Users earn points by receiving tips from others on Farcaster. These tips come from a daily allowance granted by the system to your account—visible once you link your wallet to the Degen website.
On the Warpcast platform, the Degen community channel already has 13,000 followers. Since DEGEN launched on Uniswap on January 7th, its price surged over 5,000x at its peak. It has since pulled back to around 0.002615 USDT, with market capitalization dipping below $100 million.
Additionally, tokens like FAR and SPAM emerged alongside Degen, both experiencing notable price increases. Fueled by DEGEN’s wealth effect, Farcaster is now flooded with various meme tokens such as FRAME, CAST, POINTS, and more.
Here, Odaily Planet Daily recommends users monitor which meme posts gain traction via the Farcaster Dune analytics dashboard to gauge project热度.
The synergy between Farcaster and meme tokens appears to reveal another path forward for Web3 social: instead of trying to replace Twitter or Facebook, focus on crypto-native concepts and carve out a uniquely on-chain trajectory—such as becoming a launchpad for meme token communities.
Although Farcaster never actively promoted these memes—and its official client Warpcast even suffered performance degradation due to traffic spikes—at least its visibility has risen along with the meme wave. According to Apple App Store data, Warpcast currently ranks 38th on the free apps download chart.
Meanwhile, other Farcaster-based clients have also gained attention during this surge, including audio social app Aburra, feed creation and sharing tool Discove, Discord-like Farcord, and survey app FarQuest.
However, how long this meme-driven momentum will last—and whether Farcaster can become the central hub for meme-based interactions—remains uncertain. For now, we should remain cautious about placing high expectations on meme-powered SocialFi platforms.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
Odaily
