Avalanche Foundation announces purchase of memecoins

The Avalanche Foundation, charged with developing the Avalanche Network, unveils its plan to acquire memecoins using the $100 million nonfungible token (NFT) incubator fund. The initiative is part of the "Culture Catalyst" program, originally launched in March 2022 to fund promising NFT projects on the network.

In a Dec. 29 post on X (formerly Twitter), the Avalanche Foundation emphasizes that this move is designed to Avalanche better position itself in cultivating and supporting new forms of creativity, culture and lifestyle enabled by blockchain. The fund will be used to purchase specific Avalanche-based memecoins to create a collection, with the foundation recognizing and encouraging the "culture and fun" symbolized by these memecoins.

According to Avalanche, memecoins go beyond simple useful assets and serve as a representation of the "collective spirit and shared interests of various crypto communities." Despite the humorous comments on X, including jokes about "maximum bidding on all memecoins on our chain," Avalanche stresses that strict selection criteria will be applied to potential additions to their portfolio.

The selection process includes factors such as the number of holders, liquidity thresholds, project maturity, principles of a fair launch and general social sentiment. One notable memecoin in the spotlight is Coqinu (COQ), a rooster-themed token that recently dominated the Avalanche scene. Although the token openly states it has no intrinsic value and possesses no team or roadmap, it experienced an impressive rise of more than 1.47 million percent between Dec. 8 and Dec. 20.

Avalanche's announcement follows a wave of market hype surrounding memecoins on various blockchain networks. A trader succeeded even managed to turn $450 into more than $1.5 million in realized profit by buying and selling COQ through seven different wallets. These developments illustrate the continued appeal of memecoins in the crypto space.