Messari Research Report: Comprehensive Overview of Web3 Entertainment AIUGC Platform MEET48
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Messari Research Report: Comprehensive Overview of Web3 Entertainment AIUGC Platform MEET48
MEET48 proposes a differentiated AI entertainment approach by integrating virtual idol creation, fan participation, and on-chain economics within a unified ecosystem.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Gunkan, Messari
Key Takeaways
- MEET48 positions itself as an early leader in the AI User-Generated Content (AIUGC) entertainment space, aiming to integrate generative AI, virtual idol creation, and on-chain participation into a unified, fan-driven ecosystem.
- MEET48 allows users to create and train AI-powered virtual idols via PARO AI, MEET48’s proprietary agent framework based on large language models (LLMs), trained on real-world idol performances and fan interaction data.
- The IDOL token serves as the core economic engine of the ecosystem, enabling voting, fan engagement, virtual asset purchases, and value capture through burn mechanisms.
- During MEET48’s 2025 annual idol general election, tokens purchased by users for voting exceeded 1.6% of total supply; approximately 0.45% of the total IDOL supply was burned.
- The MEET48 team has deep experience in idol operations and social gaming. Core management previously oversaw the scaled operations of SNH48, a prominent Chinese idol group, and contributed to one of China’s most successful rhythm-based social games, Audition.
Introduction
Over the past decade, the creator economy has expanded rapidly, yet its underlying economic structure has changed little. Billions of users continue producing videos, music, characters, and digital cultural content, but value still flows predominantly to centralized platforms. Creators provide content and traffic, while platforms retain ownership, control distribution, and capture most of the economic upside.
MEET48 emerges as a solution to this structural gap. Positioned at the intersection of generative AI and crypto, MEET48 seeks to redefine how entertainment content is created, distributed, and monetized. Instead of concentrating value with centralized operators, MEET48 introduces a multi-sided system where users can create AI-generated virtual idols, influence their development, and directly participate in a tokenized fan economy. In this model, creativity becomes collaborative and ownership becomes programmable.
Background
The MEET48 core team includes Kai Xu, Jason Liao, and Lin I-Ming. Jason and Kai are seasoned professionals in the entertainment industry, having operated SNH48, one of Asia’s largest idol labels. Lin brings extensive experience in the crypto sector, having worked with CRYPTOC. Through SNH48, the team accumulated over a decade of experience in idol management, live performance operations, fan engagement, and digital content monetization. At its peak, SNH48 had over 10 million fans, operated five dedicated theaters across five cities, and delivered a continuous stream of live performances over ten years.
This operational history has generated unique data assets that underpin MEET48’s AI strategy: recorded live shows, archived VR viewing data, a music library of thousands of licensed tracks, and idol-fan interaction data collected through the Pocket48 app. These datasets are used to train MEET48’s proprietary large language model (LLM) product, PARO AI.
In 2024, the team launched MEET48.ai, supporting character creation, performance choreography, and AIUGC workflows. Around the same time, the MEET48 App was launched on BNB Chain, introducing tokenized voting events and on-chain fan engagement mechanisms. On June 11, 2025, MEET48 listed its IDOL token across multiple platforms including Binance Alpha, Bitget, Gate.io, MEXC, Kucoin, and PancakeSwap.
Technology
MEET48’s architecture combines AI-generated content systems, tokenized asset infrastructure, and a distribution layer for user engagement. The platform supports the full lifecycle of virtual idol creation, including design, training, performance generation, fan interaction, and on-chain value capture. It can be divided into three core layers: Creation Layer, Experience Layer, and Economic Layer.
Creation Layer - Creation Layer
The Creation Layer is the entry point into the MEET48 ecosystem, centered around MEET48.ai, designed to serve as the “central hub” for AI-driven content creation. MEET48.ai also functions as a platform for sharing, showcasing, and creating AI content. Integrated within it is PARO AI, the core creative toolkit that enables users to build virtual idols from scratch.
Users can define an idol’s appearance, voice characteristics, fashion style, performance traits, and personality parameters. They can also generate various forms of content around the idol, such as songs, dances, videos, comics, and podcasts.
The Creation Layer serves both professional creators and fans. By lowering the barrier to entry, MEET48.ai enables users of all skill levels to produce high-quality AIUGC content. These creations can then be distributed and showcased across the ecosystem, or converted into Virtual World Assets (VWAs) and traded on the MEET48 Market on BNB Chain.
Experience Layer - Experience Layer
The Experience Layer corresponds to the environment where AI-generated idols begin social and economic activities. Centered on the MEET48 App, it serves as the primary hub for fan and creator interaction, featuring social feeds, chat rooms, idol profiles, livestreams, auditions, competitions, and collaboration spaces to help users share content and track idol growth.
A key component of this layer is the on-chain voting and ranking system. Fans use IDOL tokens to influence an idol’s visibility, event placement, and competition outcomes. Higher-ranked idols receive greater exposure within the platform and qualify for ecosystem-wide showcase events.
Proof of Creativity (PoC) is MEET48’s community-driven content validation mechanism. As AI tools drastically reduce content production costs, PoC provides a signal to identify outputs with cultural relevance and viral potential. Fans and creators vote on content and performances, increasing the visibility of high-scoring works. Content with strong PoC signals can earn featured placements, enter competitions, or progress to advanced tokenization pathways via Mars Protocol.
The Experience Layer extends into interactive entertainment through apps like Auditions GO and third-party games incubated by MEETLabs, including DeFishing. These games create engagement loops and token consumption scenarios, further reinforcing user participation.
Economic Layer - Economic Layer
The Economic Layer provides the foundation for value creation and circulation within MEET48. Its centerpiece is the IDOL token. IDOL is used for on-chain voting, purchasing virtual goods, unlocking premium interactions, and activating various fan engagement features.
The second pillar of the Economic Layer is Mars Protocol. Mars Protocol is MEET48’s “idol meme platform,” designed to support growth-driven token economies around real and virtual idols. It enables the creation of community-driven tokens whose Bonding Curve is tied to fan growth and engagement intensity, rather than isolated speculative demand.
Tokens issued via Mars do not represent ownership of individual content assets. Instead, they are fungible community tokens reflecting collective attention, participation, and cultural momentum around a given idol. By anchoring token expansion to fan-driven growth signals and sustained content activity, Mars Protocol aims to extend token lifecycles, avoid rapid decay from short-term speculation, and align token dynamics with sustainable community development.
The Economic Layer also includes Virtual World Assets (VWAs), representing tokenized forms of performance clips, scenes, game items, and other user-generated content. VWAs originate from the Creation Layer and gain economic activity upon entering the market, allowing creators and fans to establish ownership over digital content and participate in secondary market trading.
Tokenomics
MEET48’s governance token, IDOL, is the core fuel powering the ecosystem. Most functions within the ecosystem require IDOL—whether creating your own idol, producing content around idols, or voting for your favorite during award ceremonies. The total supply of IDOL is 4.8 billion tokens, allocated as follows:
- Community (36.2%): 1.74 billion IDOL, with a 6-month lock-up followed by linear release over 48 months.
- Ecosystem (20.0%): 960 million IDOL released in stages, with 96 million unlocked at TGE and the remainder beginning release from month 6, linearly over 48 months.
- Airdrop (9.0%): 432 million IDOL fully unlocked at TGE.
- Marketing (5.8%): 278.4 million IDOL fully unlocked at TGE.
- Strategic Financing (4.0%): 192 million IDOL, 12-month lock-up followed by linear release over 24 months.
- Private Sale (3.0%): 144 million IDOL, 12-month lock-up followed by linear release over 24 months.
- Liquidity (3.0%): 144 million IDOL fully unlocked at TGE.
- IDO (2.00%): 96 million IDOL fully unlocked at TGE.
- Advisors (2.00%): 96 million IDOL, 12-month lock-up followed by linear release over 48 months.
Users spend IDOL to access key platform functions, including creating avatars or idols and unlocking participation rights across MEET48 products. After onboarding, users primarily engage with the ecosystem through the MEET48 App and extended experiences like Auditions GO.
Users can also participate in annual audition and ceremony events: using IDOL to vote and determine winners of the annual auditions. The prize pool comes from the community token pool. Upon winner selection, part of the pool is distributed as rewards, part is burned, and the remainder flows back into the community pool for reuse in future competitions.
Ecosystem
MEET48’s ecosystem consists of an expanding matrix of applications, creator tools, and token-driven interactive environments, collectively forming a unified entertainment universe. The MEET48 App is the central hub for social engagement, voting, and community interaction; Auditions GO extends idol participation into gamified scenarios; and Mars Protocol supports token-driven community formation and operation.
MEET48 App
The core hub of the MEET48 ecosystem is the MEET48 social app. It provides social feeds, chat rooms, idol profiles, livestreams, and collaboration spaces where users can share UGC and follow the growth of AI-driven idols. The app also includes an on-chain voting system, seasonal ranking events, and various community activities to sustain cultural热度 and discussion within the platform. It is designed as the “social layer” of the MEET48 universe.
Auditions GO
The ecosystem extends into interactive entertainment via Auditions GO. Auditions GO is a rhythm game where virtual idols perform dances created by users and compete in challenges. The game is not yet officially launched but will utilize PARO AI—using PARO AI to generate performances and personality traits so idols can participate in rhythm challenges, scoring systems, and social leaderboards. Auditions GO is currently scheduled for release in 2026.
Mars Protocol
Mars Protocol serves as a platform to drive community experiences and evolve them into token economies. Fans and creators can directly participate in idol-centered meme token ecosystems. Through Mars, users can issue Idol-Meme tokens, engage in Bonding Curve markets, and organize around tokens associated with emerging idols and culturally resonant moments.
Unlike fully permissionless meme launch platforms, Mars Protocol introduces structured discovery and support mechanisms to align token activity with long-term idol growth. Token issuers can opt into MEET48’s incubation framework, which includes supply locking, platform-backed promotion, and access to AIUGC tools. Community voting plays a central role in determining visibility and popularity; annual events and rankings elevate top-performing idols and tokens with increased exposure, buyback programs, and liquidity support.
Mars Protocol is also integrated with broader MEET48 ecosystem entry points, including the social app and metaverse environments, giving Idol-Meme tokens richer utility through ongoing content creation, events, and fan engagement.
Annual Idol General Election
The MEET48 ecosystem features an annual idol general election as a repeatable mechanism to drive fan engagement, content discovery, and token usage. The event allows fans to vote for participating idols (both real and virtual) using IDOL tokens. Voting results influence rankings, platform visibility, and eligibility for future content releases and ecosystem initiatives. Thus, the competition functions more as a structured fan engagement signal than just a promotional campaign.
The first WIPA general election was held in August 2025, marking MEET48’s first large-scale implementation of a token-based voting mechanism. During the voting period, fans spent approximately 78 million IDOL, roughly 1.63% of total token supply, to support contestants.
The general election framework accommodates both traditional and AI-generated virtual idols under the same voting system, placing human and virtual performers in the same competitive arena, allowing fan preferences to be consistently expressed and quantified.
Tokens used in voting are partially removed from circulation via a burn mechanism; the remainder flows back into the community fund for future incentives and ecosystem projects.
MEETLabs
MEETLabs is MEET48’s initiative to expand the Experience Layer through product development and incubation programs. The first project incubated by MEETLabs is DeFishing, a P2E fishing game. The project’s tokenomics involve three tokens: IDOL, GFT, and GSC, with one of its core roles being a token sink (consumption mechanism) for IDOL.
Future Roadmap
MEET48 2026 Annual General Election
MEET48 plans to host an annual general election, where users will vote for top idols and crown the ultimate winner. This event is a crucial component of the MEET48 ecosystem and essential to protocol operations.
The competition is scheduled for 2026, giving users the opportunity to showcase their AI-created idols and have fans vote for their favorites.
Conclusion
MEET48 proposes a differentiated path in AI entertainment by integrating virtual idol creation, fan engagement, and on-chain economics within a single ecosystem. Rather than treating AIUGC, social interaction, and tokenization as separate verticals, MEET48 unifies them through a layered architecture, aligning content creation, user interaction, and value capture within one coherent system.
At the ecosystem level, MEET48 uses the IDOL token as a coordination tool: IDOL is required for voting, access, and participation, while burn mechanisms and structured unlock schedules introduce deflationary pressure. Products like Mars Protocol further expand economic functionality, enabling community attention, gaming behavior, and cultural momentum to translate into measurable activity and value flow within the MEET48 ecosystem.
As the MEET48 platform continues to grow, its ability to build a new AI creator economy may ultimately determine whether it can sustain long-term, stable engagement beyond initial novelty.
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