Meme Chains Take Memecoins to the Next Level

What are Meme Chains?

Several new blockchains sporting meme themes have recently emerged to provide crypto users with an entertaining break from the bear market. Unlike previous meme-based cryptocurrencies, these meme chains do not reside on a pre-existing Layer 1 chain. Instead, they feature low transaction fees and a highly interoperable smart contract technology. As Layer 2 tokens, they also allow crypto users to build whatever they want on a meme chain.three of the most prominent meme chains are detailed below. Their growing popularity among innovative developers bodes well for the field.

Dogechain

Dogechain provides the memecoin Dogecoin with abundant smart contract capabilities. Built using the Polygon Edge framework, the meme chain markets itself as a “Layer 2 for Dogecoin.” Although Dogechain is compatible with Ethereum, it does not use ETH to cover transaction fees. Instead, crypto users pay for their services with either wrapped Dogecoin (WDOGE) or the chain’s native Dogechain token (DC).

While the team behind Dogechain is unrelated to the original Dogecoin creator, the meme chain helps to facilitate the memecoin’s use. Indeed, the Dogechain website prominently advertises its smart contract capabilities with the tagline “NFTS, Video games, and Defi for Dogecoin customers.”

Dogechain attracted a plethora of fly-by-night tokens after its launch. Their immediate success led to a speculative frenzy of sorts. Since then, however, the chain has begun to attract several solid projects. Cyberarena (NFT gaming), Atlantis Loans (lending/ borrowing), and Anjiswap (Defi) are among the most prominent projects hosted.

Interest in Dogecoin has risen based on the belief that Elon Musk will incorporate the token into Twitter soon. If so, Dogechain will become an indirect beneficiary of such a move.

Kekchain

Kekchain fans supposedly worship the satirical religion of Kek, the traditional

Egyptian frog god. The meme was created on 4chan when crypto users noticed that Kek resembled the popular meme character Pepe the Frog. Kekchain continues to be built on Pepe the Frog’s popularity, a meme that has experienced widespread viral success since 2008.

Like Berachain, Kekchain is in the pre-launch phase. However, the meme chain has already launched its native KEK token as an ERC-20 on Ethereum.

And last summer the project introduced its own .kek domain name service, similar to .eth domains from the Ethereum Name Service.

Kekchain developers intend to migrate KEK from Ethereum to facilitate transaction fee payments after Kekchain’s mainnet is launched. However, crypto users can build applications and test the chain on Kekchain’s operating testnet.

Unfortunately, Kekchain incurs a 10% exit tax for promoting KEK in the KEK token contract. While somewhat contentious, the chain’s developers and marketers believe keeping the tax is crucial for development. Critics argue that reducing merchants’ tokens as an exit tax will deter community adoption.

Berachain

Berachain aims to honor the ongoing crypto bear market with the notion of

“bearposting.”, The meme chain uses images of Bobo the Bear to represent the Berachain community, much like how Dogechain uses the Doge. Nonetheless, Berachain is more than just another amusing meme. The project seeks to change the way blockchains and Defi operate.

In particular, Berachain aims to distinguish itself from other meme chains by enabling Defi quicker access to capital. The project intends to achieve this by using an innovative “Proof of Liquidity” concept and tri-token design. The latter refers to three tokens that comprise the Berachain ecosystem: the BGT governance token, the BERA fuel token, and the HONEY collateralized stablecoin.

The justification for having three separate tokens is rooted in the idea that a decentralized economic system needs three key components to succeed: a gas token (for labor), a governance token (to reach consensus), and a stablecoin

(to transact using a stable denomination). While most current networks combine multiple features under the same tokens, Berachain seeks to keep them entirely separate.

Berachain’s new Proof of Liquidity Sybil resistance mechanism requires that every component be distinct. Thus, Berachain users can repurpose their governance tokens to offer liquidity throughout the

Berachain ecosystem. This capability allows Berachain users to gain income from block rewards and protocol charges. If the strategy is successful, Berachain will set a new standard for capital efficiency and blockchain design.

Although Berachain is still under development, the meme chain plans to launch its first incentive-based testnet soon. The chain’s developers claim the chain is Ethereum-compatible and allows for complete cross-chain interoperability.

Conclusion

While meme chains and meme cash provide early investors with handsome returns, they can come with substantial risk. Meme projects can quickly rise and fall in value, leaving those who invested at the top holding the bag. In addition, many meme projects are anonymous, and there is little accountability. This reality tends to increase the possibility of fraud through a pump-and-dump scheme or exit scam.

Alternatively, Dogecoin and a handful of other meme projects have proven to be highly resilient over time. And new meme projects like Dogechain are quickly proving their worth. Nonetheless, anyone considering investing in a meme chain should conduct their own research and understand the risks involved.