Why is 9GAG's NFT project Memeland, from the "Meme Factory," so popular?

Author: Nancy, PANews

The NFT space, which has been quiet for a long time, is lively again. On January 5, the NFT project Memeland under the well-known meme community 9GAG launched a new series called CaptainZ, triggering market FOMO. In addition to the whitelist being driven up to high prices, it received over 9999 deposits in just 11 minutes after the minting started, with the team's revenue exceeding 9800 ETH.

What is the special aspect behind Memeland's high participation amid the continued slump in the NFT market? This article will explore.

Building a Creator Economy: Launching Different Levels of Membership Card NFTs

As one of the strong narratives of NFTs, membership PASS cards similar to Web2 membership systems are highly sought after. This access-based gameplay allows holders to enjoy different rights through various types of NFTs. Memeland has also introduced a Web3-style membership card system. As the first NFT project launched by the social media site 9GAG, Memeland issued three series of NFTs: "YOU THE REAL MVP," "Potatoz," and "THE CAPTAINZ," each corresponding to different levels of membership. Holders can gain varying degrees of exclusive access to the creator NFT market, unlock membership in private clubs, gain early access to future 9GAG projects, and receive exclusive airdrops, as well as qualifications to participate in live events.

Among them, the MVP has a total of 420 units and is the premium membership of the Memeland ecosystem. Holders can receive 2 free minting slots for "MEMELAND CAPTAINS," whitelist access for all future Memeland and 9GAG projects, and an MVP role in Discord. The sale price for MVP is 5.3 ETH, and the current (January 5) floor price has exceeded 20 WETH.

The Potatoz NFT serves as the basic membership for entering the Memeland ecosystem, consisting of 9999 PFP NFTs, each of which is related to Memeland Memelist, $MEME, and Memeland MVP to some extent. The Potatoz was released as a free mint, with each wallet allowed to mint only one. MVP holders can directly receive 3 airdrops, and the current floor price is 2.2 WETH. In July of this year, Memeland introduced a staking feature for this NFT, allowing players to earn tickets to participate in weekly lottery events by staking Potatoz NFTs.

CaptainZ is the third series of NFTs, with a total of 9999 units (of which 9169 NFTs can be minted, and the remaining 830 are stored in the Memeland Treasury). It represents the top membership of Memeland and can manage the Memeland DAO. The DAO will serve as a community-led tool to promote the growth and development of the Memeland ecosystem. CaptainZ holders will help Memeland make decisions regarding DAO finances, governance rules, partnerships, and more. According to the rules, after the minting of CaptainZ started on January 5 for Memelist, Potatoz, or Waitlist, it received over 9999 deposits in about 11 minutes, with a minting price of 1.069 ETH, resulting in team revenue exceeding 9800 ETH. Participants will have a continuous 24-hour airdrop and refund period after the minting ends, but they cannot sell Potatoz before receiving the CaptainZ airdrop; otherwise, they will only receive a refund. After CaptainZ is minted, holders of 1 CaptainZ or 1-3 Potatoz can participate in weekly tasks to earn different types of Treasure Mapz, with MVP holders receiving Mapz of rarity levels 1 and 2. These Mapz will have the opportunity to be converted into $MEME or enjoy priority access to the yet-to-be-released TREASURE ISLANDZ.

"9GAG is not a technology-driven company, and aside from the product itself, how to use operations to maintain user activity and make the site more popular is a key focus of the team," 9GAG founder Ray Chan mentioned in an interview. The operators of Memeland have indeed demonstrated strong operational capabilities, and most activities are related to meme culture, including launching events like "Crazy Meme" and "Best Meme Slogan," and they will periodically collect whitelist users.

As a social platform for sharing interesting images or videos through secondary creation, 9GAG's success is inseparable from its users, and the team has been exploring an effective incentive mechanism. To connect Web2 and Web3 communities and empower creators, in addition to NFTs, 9GAG has also introduced the concept of token economics. Creators can publish their works in Memeland's creator NFT market to earn $MEME, and fans and readers can not only appreciate and own the works but also invest in their favorite creators, building a community together and growing collectively. In Ray's view, creators in the Web2 world, primarily reliant on advertising revenue, often face dilemmas; the content readers want to see is not funded by advertisers, while advertisers want content that readers do not enjoy. In the Web3 world, creators can focus on creating, adding value to their communities and works, and sustaining their livelihoods.

Backed by 200 Million Users and Supported by Several Veteran NFT Players

"Whoever controls the meme controls the world," Elon Musk once tweeted. As a "meme factory" that has been operating for 14 years, 9GAG has gained global popularity, with a total fan base across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter exceeding 200 million. It ranks among the top 200 websites globally, with an average of over 8 million daily active users and more than 20,000 posts.

9GAG originally means to "make GAG," where GAG in English means "fun," and the number 9 is a homophone for "make" in Cantonese. Due to its focus on American humor and satire of American culture, 9GAG is often mistakenly thought to be a U.S.-based company. In fact, 9GAG, headquartered in Hong Kong, was founded in 2008 by five Hong Kong individuals: Ray Chan and his brother, along with Chan Siu-Hin, Fung Chak-Fai, and Yu Tsz-Lei. At that time, as social platforms like Facebook were not yet widespread, this group of young people created 9GAG as an online community to share funny images and YouTube videos beyond email, driven by their love for collecting novel and interesting content.

In 2012, 9GAG received an investment of $2.8 million, reaching a valuation of 140 million HKD, with investment institutions including Freestyle Capital, True Ventures, First Round Capital, Greycroft Partners, 500 Startups, Y Combinator, and a group of American angel investors such as Anthony Soohoo, Benjamin Ling, BoxGroup, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Kevin Rose.

9GAG has deep ties with NFTs, with many investors and advisors involved in the NFT space. For example, Kevin Rose is the founder of the blue-chip project MoonBirds, Gary Vaynerchuk is the creator of the NFT project VeeFriends, Karlee is the founder of the NFT community Gutter Cat Gang, Takoa is the founder of the NFT project Forgotten Ethereal Worlds, and ohdotss is the founder of the popular NFT project Kaiju Kingz. Moreover, Ray is also a seasoned NFT collector, with an OpenSea address showing he holds about 1300 NFTs, including many projects like BAYC, MoonBirds, MAYC, CLONE X, and CyberKongz.

In summary, the booming NFT has gradually become a new medium for expressing meme culture and can also provide creators with new content monetization channels. Although 9GAG is a "newbie" in the NFT field, this platform that excels at memes, backed by a strong team and a large user base, has gained confidence in its Web3 transformation, aiming to better realize its mission of "Make the world happier" in the metaverse.