The Avalanche Foundation, the organization behind the smart contract blockchain platform Avalanche, is taking a strong stance on memecoins by introducing a liquidity mining incentive program. The program, called “Memecoin Rush,” will offer $1 million in Avalanche (AVAX) tokens to traders and liquidity providers of community coins on the Avalanche network.
The first phase of the program will be implemented on the decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms SteakHut and Trader Joe. These platforms will incentivize trading and add liquidity strategies for community tokens within the Avalanche network. Liquidity providers on liquidity pools of memecoins Coq, NoChill, Tech, and Kimbo paired with the AVAX token will be rewarded.
Avalanche has also identified Coq, Kimbo, NoChill, Gec, Tech, Husky, Meow, Kong, Meat, and Kingshit as beneficiaries of the incentive program’s vaults.
While some prominent figures in the crypto community, like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have criticized memecoin traders, Avalanche has taken a different approach. In fact, on December 29, Avalanche announced that its $100 million culture catalyst fund would be used to acquire memecoin assets based on the network.
Avalanche believes that memecoins represent the collective spirit and shared interests of diverse crypto communities, going beyond mere utility assets. The initiative aims to position the Avalanche blockchain as a network that supports new forms of creativity and culture.
However, Avalanche has clarified that not all memecoins will receive funding from the $100 million fund. The foundation has shared eligibility requirements, including having renounced contracts, low ownership concentration among whales, and high liquidity levels. Additionally, the memecoin project should be at least one month old.
In March, memecoins on the Solana network experienced what one community member described as “peak degeneracy.” Token projects raised over $100 million in just three days through pre-sales, a controversial fundraising method. With this model, investors send Solana (SOL) tokens to a wallet address, hoping to receive a weighted distribution of tokens once the project goes live. However, there is no guarantee that investors will receive the tokens in exchange for their SOL.
As memecoins continue to gain popularity, Avalanche’s Memecoin Rush program and culture catalyst fund demonstrate the platform’s commitment to supporting and promoting the creativity and culture within the memecoin community.