Degens Embrace the Memechains | Bankless

Culture, Catalysts & Coinbase. Memecoin DEGEN roared to life last month as Base Season accelerated, with holders bagging 4,000% returns during March. What catalysts propelled DEGEN to a unicorn valuation, and can this coin continue to run?

Hindsight is always 20/20, but DEGEN appears to have been one of the most painfully obvious plays to capitalize on two of crypto’s hautest narratives: memecoins and Base.

Early adopters of Farcaster received the DEGEN drop on Base, and the launch of tipping solidified the token’s status as the Web3 social application’s primary memecoin back in February, making it the best asset to purchase for upside exposure to Farcaster.

Massive spikes in transaction activity on Base following the implementation of EIP-4844 signaled that the chain is a top destination for onchain users, but the tokenless nature of the chain left degens searching for a native asset to express their alignment by purchasing. DEGEN has filled this void, transcending from a mere play on Farcaster into a culture coin for the entire Base ecosystem.

Although external catalysts have significantly contributed to DEGEN’s success, recent internal developments have also played a key role, with the announcement of Degen Chain on Thursday helping the token rally by 285% into yesterday.

Deployed in conjunction with Web3 infrastructure provider Syndicate, the Degen Chain will use DEGEN as its gas token and is one of the first L3s built exclusively for a community, a move envisioned to foster experimentation across a myriad of DEGEN-enabled applications, ranging from tipping and community rewards to payments and gaming!

Because DEGEN is the gas token for the Degen Chain, the native bridge swaps all deposits to the chain for DEGEN, endowing the token with practical utility and creating a direct source of buying pressure, factors which have been positively reflected through the rising price.

Further, with no fast bridging solutions currently live on Degen Chain, depositors must wait the standard 7-day optimistic challenge period to withdraw their funds from the network, essentially locking them into DEGEN and the smorgasbord of even riskier memecoins native to the L3.

 Given DEGEN’s success in establishing itself as the culture coin of Base and the project’s desire to create useful infrastructure, the token appears to be a prime candidate for a future listing on Coinbase and potential investment from the Base Ecosystem Fund.

Tokens of other popular Base applications, including Aerodrome, have previously received such favor from Coinbase in efforts to support projects building on its chain, and such events would likely have a positive impact on price.