Today @CC0_Studios released the first of ten episodes of the @normalmfer_ animated series, so here are some thoughts about why crypto-native content will only become more and more commonplace and why this is my best shot on goal on where I think the puck is headed.

Watch Episode 1 and subscribe below. Enjoy the yapping after that. (pls actually hit the like button it helps a fuck ton).

Internet Capital Markets → Internet Content Empires

With NFTs we saw a glimmer of what a tokenized attention economy might evolve into and with the more recent pump.fun driven memecoin mania and the even more recent pontification about the potential for Solana to democratize investing via “Internet Capital Markets,” despite its current state being far far far from what the end state of this would ideally look like, and the crimecoins taking centerstage as of late, there has been genuine IP created and value built from each of the last hyper-speculative crypto waves (NFTs & memecoins).

Pump branding as a memecoin launchpad is just the toy that people point and laugh at while failing to realize the more core product, launchpad. There was a truth discovered (kinda always known, but too hard to execute (write your own contract + pay ETH gas fees) or unsafe (threat of honeypot etc.) to do without pump. People want to make, ape, and trade coins. Some of those can be tied to a headline, a charity, a fake charity, a rug pull, an innovative product, or a sketch of what might eventually become known as the next generation’s Mickey Mouse. Over time, the market and the people building the products the market uses will fine tune to optimize for value creation, in the case of memecoins/NFTs this has been often tied to art or IP. We can see early signs of this “fine-tuning” with the recent pivot from editions to erc-20s tied to each post by Zora, and launches of Clanker and Flaunch, launchpads with alternate mechanisms from pump that give trading fees to either or both the creator and the holders.

Hidden in plain sight (the forest) among an onslaught of complete garbage (the trees), fun garbage, depressing garbage, garbage that we need to make to get to the good stuff is what we’ll look back at as the foundation for a new era of crypto-native content empires.

This onslaught of garbage isn’t unique to crypto. With each new tech cycle comes it’s own garbage, and only after time will the market reveal each new tech’s native brands, influencers, and celebs - the winners.

Crypto is no different. There are and will be more crypto-native risers that will shape the next wave of adoption. FWOG, Pudgy Penguins, Higher, MOG, Nouns, Claynosaurz, mfers - these are just some category leaders at the time of writing, which we will dive further into, some may stay the majority will wither away, and there will be many more that do not currently exist.

Gut says the best of those who leverage internet capital markets will be disproportionally crypto native and they look less like jellyjelly and more like Bonk. More like henlo, or Oh Baby Games and less like dookie dash. More like normal mfer less like Brett. More like a forest less like trees…

Content Empires Power Shifts

A non-exhaustive look at previous shifts in the content empires birthed from major shifts in tech ↓

Pre-Internet

Printing Press (1400s)

Effect: Cheaper books → higher literacy → faster idea spread
Winners: Gutenberg, early publishers, Martin Luther
Losers: The church, information makers, and the literate monarchal inner circle

Photography (1800s)

Effect: Images captured & shared → rise of photographers and their journalism
Winners: Kodak, early photo/journalists/ photographers Man Ray, Ansel Adams
Losers: Those dudes who had your whole family stand there for a few hrs to draw them once a year.

Cable TV (Late 1900s)

Effect: More channels & niches → 24/7 specialized content
Winners: CNN, ESPN, HBO;
Losers: ABC, NBC, CBS, Later FOX; TV stars (Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson)

Post-Internet

Podcasting (2000s)

Effect: On-demand audio → talk shows, direct sponsorship models
Winners: Joe Rogan, Marc Maron, later ALL-IN guys, other indie podcasters
Losers: Your cousin who thought he could make it big but instead talked about flat earth theory to nobody for a few months during COVID. Trad news / opinion outlets like FOX and CNN, regular L takers it seems.

YouTube (2005)

Effect: Easy video sharing → new wave of online video stars
Winners: Mr. Beast, PewDiePie, niche video creators
Losers: Movie star incubation pipeline, the Weinstein tuggy tuggy cabal.

Twitch (2011)

Effect: Live-streaming + chat → interactive gamer communities
Winners: Ninja, Kai Cenat, IShowSpeed, Amazon (acquired Twitch)
Losers: Existing celebs / informal celeb incubators, The Disney Channel/Nickelodeon to movie/rockstar pipeline

Substack & Paid Newsletters (2015)

Effect: Direct subscription model → writers bypass traditional media
Winners: Established Journalists (Newton, Greenwald, Bari Weiss), niche experts or cast off / canceled mainstream reporters
Losers: Legacy media outlets (losing star talent and ad revenue), editors/gatekeepers (less control over top writers/what the news of the day is.)

TikTok (2016)

Effect: Short-form vertical video and audio first content are the new standard→ viral trends, overnight fame
Winners: Charli D’Amelio, Addison Rae, Bella Poarch
Losers: The collective mental health of the youths?

Tokenization & Onchain Media (2020s)

Effect: Blockchain-based content → new monetization & ownership models / price go up as marketing sry not sry to the communists reading this piece but this is actually very cool the free market is the gatekeeper (no BJ needed for screentime) and the individual can see the upside in ways previously unthinkable.
Winners: Digital Artists, Crypto-Native builders and creators, Transaction focused AI Agents
Losers: Traditional middlemen (record labels, galleries, platforms that rely on centralized control).

Pre-Tokenized Capital Formation for Content Creation

Big studios and publishers have and continue to gatekeep purse strings and distribution channels. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe emerged letting creators tap directly into fan support, though those platforms still act as centralized middlemen who take a cut.

Tokenization can be the next evolution of capital formation for content creation pairing risk seeking capital in crypto with artists. Instead of relying on any one platform, creators can mint their own tokens or NFTs, turning audiences into co-owners, collectors, and even profit-sharing partners depending on the type of token in play. Some need nothing more than a memecoin as marketing, others may dabble in TGEs (Token Generation Events) with more steps.

Post-Tokenized Capital Formation for Content Creation

“Internet Capital Markets” coined by (maybe Akshay BD?), but more recently explained by Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital refers to a new era of permissionless, always-on fundraising and capital allocation, where anyone, anywhere, can launch a coin or token, and anyone else can become an early backer/supporter/collector.

For creators, this means tapping global markets and building fan-owned / collected ecosystems around a shared vision (or meme). Solana is the leader here at the moment, that is where the hot ball of money goes to play and where the more recent breakout consumer crypto apps have launched. Base is the closest competitor at the moment who may have a wedge with farcaster, coinbase wallet and Coinbase’s existing userbase. To be seen on how this plays out. Best to just build and use product in both ecosystems.

Platforms like Echo, pump.fun, Flaunch, Meteora, Clanker, Daosdotworld and DAOs.fun further illustrate how easy it’s becoming to launch, fund, and govern crypto-native brands / ideas.

These launchpads will evolve overtime as the devs behind them see the types of winners that Internet Capital Markets churn out and design their products to more regularly king make. i.e. TikTok king made what felt like a nobody in every small town in America and copycats (Instagram Reels) couldn’t match despite being similar in most ways. Whoever can most regularly king make becomes the place where culture starts and network effects take it from there.

If new product entrants want to capture mindshare but each can carve out market share for specific types of launches with new features and or focus on other ecosystems, they may find something there.

Flaunch, for example, is leveraging Uniswap V4 hooks to auto-buy back tokens with trading fees to align that community and incentivize to hold, if the incumbent loses market share this could become normalized.

Other novel features will also pop up, maybe auto coin buybacks but dev has the choice to have a % of buybacks automatically go toward an existing coin to align established communities with new ones. Maybe a Flaunch style auto-launch that locks liq pools on Base and Solana with an auto-buyback split between the two pools.

Someone will try to kill the incumbent with new features and the market will do its thing to determine if the features warrant migration from the status quo. Though new features are easily replicated by the incumbent w/the advantage of network effects so we’ll see.

6 Emerging Content Empire Case Studies

Note, this isn’t me picking winners. The most probable outcome is that most of these wither into the ether, but they are a non-exhaustive list of decent shots on goal that I have come across / am building myself. We will categorize these coins into memecoins, brand Coins, IP coins, and no coins.

Many of these will be fleeting but they seem to be among the stickier ones I’ve come across.

Case Study 1: Higher

$Higher the token is a Brand Coin on Base that fair launched via tokepad.xyz with little to no utility and higher itself is a headless brand.
There is a core team, or creators might be a better way of putting it, who co-authored The Higher “Greenpaper” is Jihad Esmail & LGHT.ETH.
The vibe is inclusive of anyone that wants to better themselves, specifically stating designers, artists, & visual creatives, developers & product minds, writers & speculators,” and really anyone looking to better themselves or something in any way.
The community has mad a shit ton of up arrow / green optimistic related memes and reaction pics, tools to create and spread these images, merch, and a lot more.

Takeaway for me here is:

A coin can be an effective way to build a headless brand and align a group of people to create new things for it. The token doesn’t need to reach or maintain a billion-dollar market cap (its all-time high was $130M, and it’s currently at $10M). It has lost more than 90% of its value and managed to retain a community that cares and continues to build value.

In the tweet below Jihad lays out why brand coins (higher) have could have legs, saying “Most tokens are prisoners to a meta, bound by fixed narratives that make their way to the next "current thing." Over the last year, we've seen: AI agent coins, data coins, dog coins, Trump family coins, scenecoins – each ebbing and flowing, only to be dropped for the next big thing.”

jihad

@jaesmail

Brand Coins

If attention is all you need, then a token that can shape and amplify the attention on the current thing in a values-aligned way becomes the most valuable asset imaginable.

While other projects must succeed within their defined scope, brand coins can continuously…

Case Study 2: MOG 🫵😹

$MOG or Mogcoin is a “culture coin” with little to no utility, which fair launched on the Ethereum L1 and has since bridged to both Base and Solana.
Though not dubbed a “brand coin” like Higher did, MOG has established a mascot based on the Joycat emoji 😹 and multiple specific artistic styles (AI generated, comic book-esque drawing above, and original meme making from crypto-native artists in which this Joycat mascot wearing “moggles” or Pit Vipers glasses.
Key people involved are Kmoney, Batzu, and MikeThree.
Grassroots & Viral: Originated as a meme on TikTok, $MOG grew a dedicated following by leaning into humor, meme culture, and community in-jokes (e.g., “mogging” the plebs).

Takeaways

$MOG’s rise illustrates how a meme coin can evolve into a robust cultural movement when grassroots engagement leads. MOG has clear look/branding, showing that “culture coins” can secure mainstream attention and adoption without traditional marketing playbooks. MOG focuses on the vibe and MOG as a movement over constantly shilling the token.

Case Study 3: FWOG

$FWOG was a pump.fun memecoin / IP coin on Solana the token has no utility. Fwog positions itself as a token for fun and cultural value rather than a functional asset.
Branding, outreach, and future initiatives stem from a loosely organized group of enthusiasts rather than a central team.
FWOG’s origin on pump.fun and being a Solana-native token sets it in a rare tier of memecoins to reach king of the hill status on pump and holding a high marketcap, despite massive dips recently, the community and artist remain very active.
The art was created by Wut, who was recently hired by Yuga Labs, adding credibility / staying power of to the Fwog IP/meme in the space.

Takeaway

pump.fun served as the meme king-maker during the recent memecoin mania and while there were a lot of things good, bad, cute, ugly, etc. pump king made this new IP which has maintained a cult-like following despite pretty massive price drops. IP can sustain and even thrive post-mini speculative bubbles, see also our next example, mfers.

Case Study 4: normal mfer / mfers / $mfer

mfers is twofold an nft collection, 10,021-piece NFT collection by @sartoshi_rip. There was a primary mint at 0.069 ETH. The artwork is under CC0 (public domain) licensing, known for its humor and strong community engagement. And later a memecoin; mfercoin, one of the first memecoins/tokens in general on Base associated launched. No presale, initial liquidity (locked for 200 years) from a small token allocation and airdrops to mfers community members (see distribution above) and at mfer.com.

normal mfer: An animated series by @cc0_studios explores lives of the themes through two characters a boy and a girl who are "terminally online." Created by Alex Orrelle and myself, it expands the "mfer" universe with storytelling and character development.

CC0 Studios: A production studio building creative worlds from public-domain, crypto-native IP. Partners with platforms like Atrium to produce short films.
mfers leverage CC0 IP to inspire creative derivatives (like normal mfer, animated mfers, crazies, sketchy mfers, and more). normal mfer is an example of how an NFT IP can evolve past a collectibles into narrative-driven media for all to consume regardless of their knowledge of or ownership of the specific or any NFT, and how Onchain CC0 IP can be hyper efficient culture Legos.

Takeaway

mfers started as an NFT at 0.069 ETH, now sitting around 0.2 ETH, and later spun off into a memecoin, mfercoin, which hit $0.3198 (~$130M market cap) before dropping 97% to $0.0097. Price tanked, but the brand didn’. the NFT still moves, the meme still hits, and the community keeps building.

This is what CC0 and onchain IP do best. mfers isn’t stuck in one format, it’s an NFT, a meme token, an animated series, and whatever else people decide to make next. Market cycles come and go, but mfers are hard to kill and easy to proliferate.

Case Study 5: Bold Leonidas

Bold has to be one of the most thoughtful artists about what he chooses to put onchain. This is especially notable given that he creates in such high quantity. Bold makes comics multiple times a day about current events in the space and mints only a select few, some on Zora as editions others as PFPs he is commissioned to make. I don't even think these are onchain actually.
His most notable onchain footprint was inscribing 100 1/1 pixel-art PFPs inscribed on Bitcoin making ordinals, thus, the name: “BOLDINALS”
BOLDINALS minted at 0.01 BTC each via a whitelist or early supporters and prior collectors. Sales on Ethereum NFT marketplaces (for earlier works).

Takeaways

Bold’s success in building his character’s IP came in the crypto space despite not having a memecoin or all that many ways to collect his work. Bold shows that there are other ways to build an audience in the space and build a character people love and relate to than price go up.

Case Study 6: Pudgy Penguins

Ending with the obvious.

Pudgy Penguins is a recognized Ethereum NFT project noted for playful art and an active community. They’ve built a solid reputation that now supports further expansion.
$PENGU is a Solana-based token bringing memecoin culture and potential utility into the Penguin universe. This initiative broadens the project’s scope and opportunities.
By expanding from Ethereum (NFTs) to Solana (token), the project aims to engage different crypto user segments and drive wider adoption.
Physical toys and apparel have increased brand visibility and provided additional revenue streams.
Minted at 0.03 ETH each, with active secondary trading. Entrepreneur Luca Netz acquired the brand for roughly $2.5M in ETH, providing more resources for growth.
$PENGU ****Distributed mainly via airdrop to Pudgy Penguins holders and active community members, creating organic momentum on Solana.

Pudgy Penguins: Ethereum-based NFT collection & $PENGU: Meme/IP token on Solana, with potential future

Takeaways

Pudgy Penguins shows how an NFT brand can operate across chains and media, from collectible tokens to real-world merchandise, while maintaining engagement and revenue. Launching $PENGU on Solana underscores the potential for cross-chain growth when a recognized NFT project ventures into a new network.

internet capital markets lead to internet content empires.

many such cases.

Deadline

@DEADLINE

NFT Collection Pudgy Penguins To Launch YouTube Series

deadline.com

NFT Collection Pudgy Penguins To Launch YouTube Series

Pudgy Penguins, the NFT collection and toy brand, is getting an animated YouTube series.

Honorable Mentions Include: Azuki, BAYC, DickButts, Claynosaurz, Meet Quack, Cool Cats, Doodles, Sugartown, Bodogos, Kanpai Pandas, Wassies, Nubcat, Nouns, Pizza Ninjas, Quantum Cats, Tensorians, MadLads, Bitcoin Puppets, CryptoPunks, Nakamigos, Tweaks, Franken Punks, Taproot Wizards, Retardio, DeadFellaz, Sappy Seals, Tiny Dinos, RektGuy, Cryptopunks, Meebits, Creatures, Smowls. and of course, Milady.

Disclosures: I hold $mfer, mfers, $pengu, and a Boldinal.