The memecoin industry needs to take a deep breath, cleanse itself, and then return with a slightly different approach. In brief, this is what Benjamin Notini, co-founder of Xtrends, told AltCoinDesk. And that’s what he is attempting to do with Xtrends, a newly launched token launchpad on the Solana blockchain.
According to Notini, who has been in the crypto industry for nearly 10 years, the memecoin industry should bring a fresh appearance, given that most of the tokens are covered by excessive hype, speculation, community engagement, scams, and more.
Pump-and-dump is rampant across the industry
“Too many people have discovered a formula to make a quick dollar”, said Benjamin Notini when asked about the pump-and-dump schemes and the reliability of memecoin projects.
He said it is better to say regulated than reliable when it comes to memecoins. He further explained that the whole crypto industry is suffering as people are finding their ways to grab quick profit.
As a result, scammers are widely rug-pulling memecoin projects and running away with the funds investors put in.
People of all ages have created their own ingredients to earn millions. They launch a project, make it look so exciting, add so much hype, marketing, and eventually rug pull the project.
Benjamin Notini, Co-Founder, Xtrends
‘There is only one thing that can be a true rug pull’
A true rug pull, in Notini’s words, is when the value of the memecoin and the base asset paired with it in a liquidity pool differ highly in value.
For instance, there are $5000 worth of XYZ memecoins in a liquidity pool, and $5000 worth of Solana (base asset). The value of both the XYZ memecoins and Solana are same, although the number of tokens varies — 1000 XYZ memecoins and 100 Solana.
In rug pulls, the meme token supply may remain the same; however, the base asset is too low, meaning the real value has been removed. As such, the value of both the meme tokens and the related base asset should co-exist to avoid rug pulls.
Liquidity is important in memecoins
Some memecoins easily vanish due to a lack of liquidity. Thicker liquidity means the project is less volatile and more stable. Low liquidity eventually leads to instability and the shutdown of the project.
Therefore, Notini advises token creators to support their projects with thicker liquidity. When the liquidity pool is larger, tokens can be traded more easily without squandering or significant price changes.
Say goodbye to automated sniper bots and fake demand
Automated sniper bots create automated trading the moment liquidity is added or the project is launched. These bots buy huge amounts of tokens, creating fake demands.
Notini puts this situation differently; when a new token launches, sniper bots watch the deployer wallet (tokens launched from a wallet). The bots instantly buy the tokens before the real users get into trading the token.
“We penalize these types of automated sniper bots”, stated Notini. Typically, on a token launchpad, a sniper bot sends SOL to the liquidity pool and receives tokens in return.
However, on Xtrends, if a sniper bot tries to interfere when a token is issued, the SOL sent by the bot goes to the liquidity pool, but the new tokens received get burned, cutting down any incentives.
One thing stays the same all the way
As Benjamin Notini shared his experiences in the crypto space, AltCoinDesk was keen to know about one thing that has remained unchanged since he entered crypto.
The crypto industry goes through major changes, including regulations, new blockchains, token launches, and even legal grey zones. Nevertheless, one thing that remains unchanged, according to Notini, is the ‘whitepaper of Bitcoin’ and smart contracts.
“There is this everlasting cycle of hype, and then hype comes down, people fade away”, this is another answer Benjamin told AltCoin Desk.
Xtrends prevents re-hashtags
“There is a uniqueness to launching memecoin projects on Xtrends.” Registering hashtags is a common step when you launch a memecoin. When memecoin creators register a hashtag, they can launch tokens related to it. They can even resell the hashtag if they don’t want to launch tokens.
However, people usually launch the same project with the same name, which is more like copying the name of a memecoin and creating fake coins.
What we are looking to do is dial back the amount of copycat coins that people create and limit player vs. player (PvP). On Xtrends, there will be only one real project.
Benjamin Notini, Co-Founder, Xtrends
For the Xtrends executive, token launchpads like Pump.fun are not a problem in the industry, but “they perpetuate the problems that already exist.”
Elon Musk may not talk about Dogecoin soon
When asked about the first-ever memecoin ETF, Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF, Notini showed his support for it. He added that a tremendous amount of inflow is going into the Dogecoin ETF. Moreover, Dogecoin has its own blockchain and has practical use cases, making it look more credible to the users.
Benjamin Notini also believes that “Elon Musk may not talk about Dogecoin any time soon,” as the project has already become a well-known digital asset.
Memcoin’s long-term credibility
Memecoin is surrounded by culture, community, and a lot of things. “At the end of the day, the value of the project comes down to the creator of the project,” added Notini.
On Xtrends, Notini is giving priority to memecoin creators in order to bring more value to their projects. In brief, a memecoin’s long-term credibility depends on the value of the project and the surrounding community.
