GM HEARTLAND |
The internet culture newsletter equivalent of a ‘u up’ text. |
—El Prof, Muhammed & Chad |
MONEY MONEY MONEY
TOKEN | PRICE CHANGE | PRICE |
---|---|---|
Solana ($SOL) | -7.83% | $252.57 |
Helium ($HNT) | -6.65% | $4.45 |
Pyth ($PYTH) | -14.00% | $0.27 |
Save ($SLND) | -17.35% | $0.70 |
(Price changes reflect past 7 days as of 1.28.25)
BUZZWORD OF THE WEEK
de-PIN:
Public utilities that are modern and efficient, through advanced accounting and auditing technologies enabled with AI
The next evolution of IoT (Internet of Things), where the data prescribes agents to identify and resolve problems before they get out of hand
The robotic arm of the Data Economy

AI Isn’t A Bubble. Software Is.
I’m typically either two years too early or two seconds too late. And for a hot sec, the latter seemed totrue once again this past week, as the AI sector crashed — moments after I entered it in earnest.
My capacities as a dev have continue to grow week over week as I struggle through the deployment of playhaus’ MVP to Google’s Cloud Platform. (Which I am probably still doing as we speak.) Of course, when I say “capacities as a dev”, I mean “cursing out an AI-powered coding chatbot until it gets results”, but hey. It does get results. More than all my past dev hires combined, if that tells you anything.
That’s not all. Over the weekend, I finally started a project with LangChain, a framework for developing custom AI agents and operators. I was psyched to finally start dancing at the party — up until the music unceremoniously stopped. As you’ve surely heard, China’s industrial machine responded to the erstwhile TikTok ban with DeepSeek, an open-source LLM that can apparently outperform ChatGPT and was developed in a fraction of the time, for a fraction of the cost. Blue-chip AI stocks promptly plummeted, right as I was getting my feet wet. Sigh. Just a simple guy, trying to leverage the Solana Agent SDK, so I can build some memecoin sniper bots and buy myself a vacation.
Fortunately, the rout didn’t last long. Investors are already buying the dip today, and I can’t say I’m surprised, given the rise of the AI meta in the web3 space, the success of AI meme coins, and the 180 on SAMA’s costly AI training clusterfuck, Project Stargate. The reports of the AI bubble’s burst were greatly exaggerated.
As much as we may fall on the anti-Big-Tech side of the spectrum, I can’t argue in good faith that this is a bad thing. We should be hopeful for NVIDIA, and the future of the hardware side of these businesses, because demand for computers will scale exponentially. Our reliance on technology all but guarantees it. (At least, until we start getting into organic-based computation. But I’m sure NVIDIA has R&D in the space already.) Efficiency gains in energy consumption or processing capacity shouldn’t scare the markets.
What should scare the markets are open-source models, decentralized computation networks, and community-owned applications that transform our current internet infrastructure from digital fiefdoms to a true public utility. The software moat is bloated and over-valued in this environment.
In other words, AI isn’t a bubble, but software is.
The short-lived fall of TikTok exposed the fallibility of even the biggest tech players. Now, imagine if the ban didn’t come from the outside, but from within. A digital asset custody protocol — encompassing the assets that represent you, your digital identity, and enabling you to choose the level of your privacy and benefit from the resale or licensing of data — could bring some of the biggest companies in the world to their knees.
AI isn’t going anywhere. But it requires that very same data to train, update, and optimize it. Cut off access to it (or, even better, make companies pay for it) and it could cripple the majority of profitable operations for software giants like Microsoft and Google.
Of course, that raises a big follow-up question: What is the killer consumer app that takes us there? And another one, in the case of this newsletter: How do we keep it from centralized control?
Our friend and advisor Branden suggests we build on the existing idea from Newglenn.eth, AI memecoins of sunset legacy brands like Enron, Blockbuster, or even PanAM but imbued with the power of pseudo-sentience, through the creation of character-based LLM. So basically, the OG Wendy’s Twitter account, but instead of an intern dragging anons, it’s an AI agent dragging web2 walled gardens all to hell.
(And potentially a community of fans voting on token weights, with their tokens, to adjust the personality of the brand character, or allowing the bot to spend its tokens to build up a new business from the brand? Okay, okay. I’ll stop boring y’all and just tell it to my AI coding bot instead. Can’t wait to see what it spits out.)
—El Prof
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INB4 Memecoins Go Mainstream
With DOGE now officially the name of a government agency, and big banks signaling a willingness to embrace crypto as soon as Trump rolls back regulations, we appear to be nearing everyone’s favorite stage of the crypto bull market. I call it the Walmart Announces Web3 Initiative Era™.
This was a big thing in the 2021 bull cycle. Even TIME Magazine (which was apparently still a thing at the, heh, time) had its own crypto project. Admittedly, it sort of made sense at the time. That rally was catalyzed by the likes of NFTs and metaverse real estate. And it’s not hard to see why digital collectibles and virtual storefronts might go over well in a boardroom.
The current crypto summer, on the other hand, has been characterized by a very different beast: memecoins. And it’s a lot harder to picture a PR Newswire in which TIME launches one of those. Harder to picture — but not necessarily a worse idea.
If properly done, memecoins provide brands with an entirely new way to extend their influence. The potential for companies and organizations to use memecoins as part of their broader web3 strategy is enormous. Brands with strong legacies are particularly well-suited for memecoin integration. When done right, this approach can tap into a brand’s nostalgia, revive fan loyalty, and even introduce a completely new generation of supporters to their ecosystem.
In a sense, many of today’s most successful memecoins are already linked to prominent brands. Take Dogecoin, for example. The eponymous Shiba Inu meme might not be listed on the Nasdaq. But Dogecoin’s rise in value and popularity is a testament to how the line between a meme and brand can blur into nothingness. As of now, Dogecoin is integrated into platforms like Twitter for tipping and even being considered for use by certain businesses as a method of payment.
So what would it look like if established brands were to launch their own memecoin? Frankly, it could almost be seen as a logical next step for global brands that have already gone in on rewards programs, turning their own apps into a facsimile of a blockchain ecosystem. For example, McDonald’s could release a BigMacCoin to celebrate milestones and offer promotions to token holders, which might attract interest not just from loyal customers, but also retail traders eager to capitalize. (Or just doing it for the meme.)
It might be an even more natural fit for legacy brands that have seen their cultural relevance fade over time, giving them a unique opportunity to tap into an emerging culture to regain attention and bolster their image. Let’s say Nokia, once the king of mobile phones before being dethroned by smartphones, created a NokiaCoin to mark its comeback. Tapping into the nostalgia of the iconic Nokia 3310 — and the inherent irony of the phone that “never dies” — the coin could ignite the web3 version of a meme stock rally and inject a shot of adrenaline into a dying brand. But unlike a pure memecoin, Nokia is still a multibillion-dollar company, capable of offering real value to holders, perhaps in the form of limited-edition hardware or exclusive events.
Topping my personal list of somewhat realistic memecoin adopters would be trendy companies like Twitch and Gucci. Imagine Twitch, launching TwitchCoin as part of its Web3 strategy, allowing content creators to reward their viewers in a decentralized way. Imagine using TwitchCoin to access premium content, exclusive streams, or virtual rewards — blending the power of memecoins with the community-driven nature of the platform. That would be a badass move, and a major growth to crypto world.
Similarly, a fashion giant like Gucci could create GucciCoin to offer token-based access to limited-edition digital apparel in the metaverse or physical goods, rewarding loyal followers and collectors of exclusive designs.
In the end, it’s not just about adding a fun twist to a brand or generating buzz; memecoins offer companies an innovative way to integrate their legacy into the decentralized economy, reinvigorate their community, and explore new avenues for engagement. The future of memecoins holds immense potential, and for brands, it may just be the key to unlocking a new era of customer engagement, legacy revival, and, ultimately, success in the decentralized world.
—Muhammed