Next $DEGEN? Learn About Lens Protocol's Native Meme $BONSAI
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Next $DEGEN? Learn About Lens Protocol's Native Meme $BONSAI
A protocol doesn't attract attention to its token simply because people are using it; rather, it draws more users only after the token has demonstrated wealth effects.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: TechFlow
The combination of social protocols with meme coins proves highly effective.
Previously on Base chain, the meme coin $Degen—originating from Farcaster, a decentralized social protocol—became wildly popular, providing an ideal environment for memes to be used, evolve, and spread. This also fueled the rise of numerous other memes on Base.
Now, this meme wave has reached Polygon.
Due to Degen’s popularity, attention has largely focused on Farcaster, causing many to forget about another major decentralized protocol launched last year on Polygon—Lens Protocol.
Back when Lens was still in testing phase, its entry-ticket NFT called Handle was heavily speculated upon, creating intense FOMO. Today, however, interest in Lens has waned—perhaps simply because it lacked a meme with wealth effects.
On the last day of March, the meme coin $BONSAI built on Lens began surging rapidly, increasing its market cap from $5M at the start of the month to $80M, with prices quadrupling within two days—quickly completing initial value discovery.
Scrolling through social media now, you’ll notice growing discussions around Lens—many appearing as after-the-fact realizations.
Yet this precisely illustrates a key principle in crypto:
A protocol doesn’t attract users because people are using it, but rather attracts usage only after its token generates wealth effects.
Considering BOSAI’s market cap is far below DEGEN’s, if sentiment spills over from missed opportunities with DEGEN, BOSAI could become the next speculative target in the social-protocol-plus-meme formula.
So what exactly is $BOSAI, and how does it relate to Lens?
What is BOSAI?
Similar to how early Farcaster users received $DEGEN airdrops, BOSAI is also a meme coin initially distributed via airdrop to active early users of Lens.
However, unlike DEGEN, BOSAI isn’t a standard ERC-20 token—it’s built on the DN-404 standard.
We won’t dive into the technical details of DN-404 here; interested readers can click here for a technical overview. What matters is that DN-404 aims to solve inefficiencies and non-compliance issues found in the experimental ERC-404 standard, achieving similar end results:
It enables interchangeable token and NFT ownership—holding the token means holding the NFT.
Specifically, 1 BOSAI NFT is linked to 100,000 BOSAI tokens. Traders can transfer either the NFT or the corresponding amount of tokens.
In terms of utility, beyond being a meme coin airdropped to active Lens users, BOSAI is now integrated into various functions across the Lens ecosystem.
For example, if you see an NFT artwork in a post on Lens, you can mint it directly using BOSAI as payment.
Recently, Lens founder @StaniKulechov actively promoted using BONSAI for content creation on social media, signaling a clear intent to position it as de facto gas within the platform.
Functionally, BOSAI resembles Warpcast’s warps token, enabling actions across social applications. By assigning utility to a meme coin, Lens effectively turns it into both a cultural symbol and a practical tool.
According to BOSAI’s official roadmap, all open actions on Lens (i.e., various decentralized social interactions) will support BOSAI as a payment method, allowing prompts during sending and direct reward exchanges on users’ feeds.
In terms of economic design, 70% of BOSAI tokens are allocated to the community for airdrops, liquidity mining, and incentives; 15% go to the team with a one-year lock-up followed by gradual unlocking over the next year; the remaining 15% form a liquidity pool, launching a WMATIC-BOSAI trading pair on Uniswap.
Future Outlook
Clearly, BOSAI and DEGEN follow a similar path—starting as airdrops rewarding active users, generating wealth effects and buzz before gradually developing utility.
Public data shows BOSAI will distribute airdrops three times in its first year. The first round has already occurred, rewarding early Lens contributors. Subsequent rounds will incentivize ongoing community participation and growth.
Additionally, creators and users will have opportunities to earn BOSAI by contributing creativity and skills.
Although specifics remain vague, drawing from Warpcast’s experience, actively using any of the more than ten sub-apps on Lens, posting frequently, and engaging in relevant topics appear to be optimal strategies for qualifying for future BOSAI airdrops.
With both airdrop expectations and actual use cases, BOSAI is no longer just a standalone meme floating outside the ecosystem. Lens clearly needs BONSAI to amplify its visibility and carve out a space inspired by Farcaster’s success—while users naturally seek additional economic gains through airdrops.
For perspective, several metrics may illustrate BOSAI’s potential.
User activity:
-
Farcaster DAU (Daily Active Users): ~25k
-
Lens DAU: ~6.5k
Market capitalization (as of writing):
$DEGEN Mcap: $534M $BONSAI Mcap: $73M
As fellow examples of decentralized social platforms combined with meme coins, once DEGEN completed its value discovery, BOSAI theoretically stands to absorb spillover demand. Moreover, Lens itself performs well, offering a solid user experience and laying the groundwork for mass adoption.
How far meme coins born from social protocols can go will ultimately be decided by the market.
Useful links:
BOSAI contract:
0x3d2bD0e15829AA5C362a4144FdF4A1112fa29B5c
Website: https://www.bonsai.meme/#home
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