The Avalanche Foundation plans to buy meme coins under its “Culture Catalyst” program with its $100 million NFT incubator fund.
The Avalanche Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the development of the Avalanche (AVAX) network, will acquire a collection of meme coins using its $100 million NFT incubator fund to encourage the “culture and fun” fostered by meme-driven tokens.
Part of the “Culture Catalyst” Initiative
Avalanche Foundation announced it will buy meme coins for its “Culture Catalyst” initiative. The Culture Catalyst initiative is a $100 million project launched in March 2022 and designed to finance promising NFT projects on the Avalanche network.
In its announcement, Avalanche explained:
“Last year, the Avalanche Foundation launched Culture Catalyst, a program aimed at empowering creators, sparking innovation, and propelling the adoption of blockchains. This initiative seeks to position Avalanche better to cultivate and support the many new forms of creativity, culture, and lifestyle that blockchain enables.”
As further explained, the move is aimed at broadening its portfolio.
“The Avalanche Foundation intends to start using Culture Catalyst to recognize and encourage the culture and fun symbolized by meme coins by purchasing select Avalanche-based meme coins to create a collection. This move complements the Avalanche Foundation's ongoing engagement across the Avalanche ecosystem, including NFTs, RWAs, and other types of cryptoassets, broadening its portfolio to embrace a more complete spectrum of possibilities.”
Selection Criteria
The Foundation explains it is dedicated to supporting “diverse and culturally significant initiatives” to establish itself as an “adaptable and inclusive” member of the Web 3.0 space.
While the venture aims to embrace the fun meme coins bring, Avalanche maintains a selection criteria. The Foundation explained coins for its collection will be selected according to the number of holders, its liquidity thresholds, the project’s maturity, overall social sentiment and “principles of a fair launch.”
Following the announcement, several Avalanche-based meme coins, such as COQ, husky (HUSKY), and shibx (SHIBX), gained significantly in price.
Avalanche co-founder Emin Gün Sirer expressed his support of the move in an X thread, underscoring the cultural significance of meme coins. He said:
“The people trying to fade memecoins are the same kind of people who were fading pop music in the 60s, calling Banksy a vandal in the 80s, and shittalking rap in the 90s.”
Adding;
“To be honest, it took me a while to see the value of memecoins myself. I wasn't happy when Elon was pumping Doge. It also took a while for me to see the value of high-end NFTs. But I now understand the cultural importance of coins that are just social signaling mechanisms, and I hope you do, too.”
Avalanche Rally
After recording substantial price gains, Avalanche (AVAX) is considered one of the “must-have” cryptocurrencies for this year.
The Avalanche Foundation also announced it would dedicate $50 million to acquire blockchain-tokenized assets. The venture, dubbed “Avalanche Vista,” aims to revolutionize how assets are viewed and handled while making the process faster and more scalable.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
