Original Title: "MeMe Study Notes"

Original Source: Binance Co-Founder He Yi

Chapter 1: Subculture - From the Margins to the Center Stage

Expression is a commonality among humans. A good MEME can traverse the cultural map, eliciting a knowing smile. When the collective self-identity, emotions, and subjective intentions of the masses overlap, unique values, semantics, and forms of expression are formed. For example, the burial love family of the QQ era, the social shake of the mobile video era, or the Sanhe masters at the edge of the post-industrial era have all formed distinct subcultures. I did not grow up in Western culture, but I believe that every culture has a subgroup with which you can deeply resonate. Therefore, the subcultures I mentioned earlier are very niche and outdated, not representing good MEME expressions. However, in history, certain extreme forms have emerged, with a striking image that is refreshing.

Essentially, no particular circle is truly more advanced. A hippie who attends a Zen meditation class may not necessarily have more elegance than someone watching a storytelling session. Those who like reincarnation and Star Wars are not necessarily more aesthetically pleasing than fans of Young and Dangerous, because the more niche the aesthetics, the less common ground there is. Furthermore, our generation spans the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Information Revolution, and is now colliding with AI. Chaos is the norm, all authority is dissolved, and every idol is nothing more than that. A MEME is a silent thunder, an extreme expression of the crowd, a subcultural challenge to mainstream culture. Therefore, being photoshopped or having a coin created about oneself is also part of deconstruction. Therefore, I still don't feel worthy of being at the heart of a MEME.

Likewise, chasing trending topics on Twitter or in replies from CZ or me is not the optimal path to discover or create MEMEs. The MEME is within you.

Chapter 2: Who Can Surpass Doge?

There's only one Doge. In the first Bitcoin bull market of 2013, amidst countless projects attempting to replicate Bitcoin, Doge both mocked Bitcoin and self-mockingly embraced itself. Playful yet passionate, developers abandoned the project, but the community had its own vitality. The community spontaneously added an important chapter to the history of crypto culture. The Chinese crypto community generously gave out Dogecoins worldwide, carving out its unique path: "Evangelizing for the industry, tipping first." The BBS messages during that time read: "I think you're a good person, here's 10,000 Dogecoins for you," leaving the recipient bewildered as they couldn't understand how much 10,000 Doge was worth without a calculator. In the course of the cryptocurrency industry’s development, every community has its own "evangelists." In subsequent developments, Elon Musk's fondness for Doge propelled subculture into the mainstream. Today, Doge is more than just a dog.

MEME is the attention economy, but not just attention. If all this feels like Twitter's trending topics of the day, then everything is destined to be short-lived. A great MEME does not come from a celebrity's clever move; that alone is not enough to become a MEME. This is worship of the incumbent (whether a politician or an entrepreneur), and that's not cool.

On the other hand, those who oppose for the sake of opposition often have a face on the back of their extreme leftist heads that reads extreme rightist. Those who loudly shout for decentralization often end up extremely centralized. Maintain critical thinking, seek truth amidst falsehood.

Imagine someone in your group telling you to buy into a trending topic of the day; of course, that topic will cool off by tomorrow. If this attention could become a product, a belief, a religion, only then could the next Doge emerge. It might even surpass Doge—who says it's impossible? Everything is possible.

3. Is Long-Termism Outdated?

I don't trade; I hold long-term because I follow the logic of value investing. Just as I run a business, I also adhere to long-termism, creating a clock or a garden.

Binance is just infrastructure, setting the stage. Project teams and investors here can either both win or both lose. This depends on ability, mindset, and judgment. Top entrepreneurs are already few and far between; to have a long-term view, you must also DYOR and take profit when things look good. It's not that long-termism is outdated; is it possible that you've chosen the wrong object for long-termism?

When blockchain gained attention, investors poured money into projects. Entrepreneurs, a few people, can claim their project is worth 100M, 1B, even 100B. Everything can be tokenized; price and value may diverge, but across cycles, the long term will converge.

The market size in 2017 was smaller than it is now, and the DeFi summer of 2021 had a smaller fund size, but we see more outstanding entrepreneurs entering the Web3 industry. The industry is growing larger, but confidence is dwindling. Many users ask why project valuations can't return to the ICO era. We can never go back, but we are trying. We're trying to let users vote for listings, delistings, trying to let Web3 wallets have IDOs, with projects able to choose low-entry, low-market cap issuance, providing real benefits to users, better than spending money faking data to deceive oneself.

Whether it's a MEME or AI, gaming or DeFi, social or RWA, with a variety of offerings, may we still have beer in the glass after each round of bubble bursts. Fortunately, history always repeats, the predecessors' bull about technology changing the world, the successors will achieve one by one.

I heard that many reputable projects are giving up. Hey, friend, there will always be new trends, but the world belongs to the very few who drive it forward. Instead of chasing trends, why not become the trendsetter.

Four, Investment Advice That Friends Always Ask For

All my assets are in coins, and my long-term HODL style may not suit most people, but here is one thing to consider: Make money with certainty.

1. Make money in cycles, roughly judge the economic cycle and bull/bear markets, selling in a bull market and buying in a bear market is a basic operation.

2. Assets in any category follow the Pareto principle.

3. It is recommended to allocate at least 20% in coins. Land is the asset of agricultural civilization, minerals are the hard currency of the industrial age, and in the information age, the top assets are stocks of top internet companies and coins with a network effect.

4. Some friends say that coins with good fundamentals do not fluctuate much. If you don't use leverage or trade some high-risk tokens, you won't have the opportunity. In that case, it is recommended not to exceed 10% of your disposable assets.

5. Most of the principles are actually understood by everyone and don't need me to repeat them. It's just hard to implement, just like losing weight.

Wishing everyone knows and acts on it.

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