Kevin Armstrong

[Kevin Armstrong @K_Armstrong066]

https://t.co/MYftgIwcmo

[Grizz @grizzle_art]

My thoughts on “The Trencher,” art, and memecoins

We all remember Chill Guy. The token ripped to 500M in days. But then Philip Banks, the creator of the Chill Guy character, announced that he had copyrighted the artwork and would be issuing takedown notices for profit related content. Without support from the artist, the token crashed. And that wasn’t the first or the last time we’ve seen clashes between artists and memecoin communities.

There has been long debate in the crypto world over art and memes and who they belong to.

Let’s continue to use Chill Guy as an example (sorry Philip, no hard feelings really). Philip created that character in 2023, but the character didn’t become famous until it randomly went viral on TikTok in November 2024. It wasn’t the CHARACTER people were connecting with, it was the MEME.

My feelings are that when a piece of art is memed, it begins to evolve and take on new life in the hands of each person who memes it. So then, as it evolves, who does it belong to? This will be debated for years probably, and by people much smarter than me. But my own personal thoughts are that memes belong to everyone. Memes have no central authority and this is why they are so important to crypto.

It’s obvious that the most successful tokens either have no central figure or the central figure is completely anonymous. When a token has a central figure, everything that person or group does affects the price for better or worse. (I’m looking at you, cringe Solana ad 👀). This is largely why Bitcoin is so successful. Can you imagine if Satoshi Nakamoto was posting cringe takes on twitter? This is also why many successful memecoins have no CTO and no official twitter account. They exist purely in meme form.

As an artist, I want to spend my time creating. I don’t want to be a dev, a project lead, a strategic planner, or the marketer/social media manager of a memecoin account. All of those things would take away from my time creating, which is what I need to be doing here.

This is why artists should begin to see it as a GIFT when people tokenize their work. Art in meme form is more successful in the hands of a community.

Now, let’s talk about “The Trencher”. I posted that art for fun and then went to sleep. While I slept, @a1lon9 commented on it (thank you, Alon!!) and brought attention to the artwork. It was, of course, immediately tokenized on Pump Fun by an unknown dev. I woke up to hundreds of notifications. As I was trying to sort out what was happening, the token ran up to 1.5M market cap and was #1 trending on dex. I was a little sad that I missed early entry to my own meme lol, but mostly, I was overwhelmingly excited that people cared enough about my art to meme it.

Because I am in the trenches, I know how memes work. I know that when something goes viral, there is no “waiting period” to figure out who gets to be the dev. Viral memes are tokenized. Swiftly. The trenches move fast and the fastest win. I am choosing to cheer on the success of the $trencher token and lean into the gratitude I feel for the exposure and attention this has brought me. Like I said in my original statement, I am an artist, not a dev. I hope you can appreciate my art for what it is, rather than for what it does to the number on a chart. I’ve been here everyday, for years, making silly art and memes. And I will continue to do my thing.

I like to think that “The Trencher” went viral because people see themselves in it. Put yourself, your character, at the center. What would YOUR accessories be? What makes YOU a trencher? I’ve always loved to create simple cartoons that people can see themselves in and that are accessible and easy to recreate.

I believe our industry will continue to evolve in best practices of how to include artists when their art/memes are tokenized. Should they be gifted supply? Should they buy their own? What is the best way to include artists in their newfound virality? We’re all still figuring this out.

One last thought. Before @pumpdotfun, almost all memecoin launches were manufactured unfunny “meme” pre-sales with loads of insider trading. With the rise of Pump Fun, real viral memes are launched immediately, by anyone, the second they go viral. Pump Fun rewards creativity, humor, and speed. This allows small creators to win. This allows people who are here grinding everyday to win. This allows people who have a good eye for memes to win. Be active, be funny, make memes, be a good person. That’s all.

[Kraken @krakenfx]

@DocumentingBTC Bullish on Buckazoids

[木木 💛🌎☮️ @hold_yao]

Palu刚刚经历了一场FOMO（错失恐惧症）的洗礼。那是一个疯狂的牛市夜晚，某个新币在X平台被炒得天花乱坠，价格如同火箭般窜升。Palu盯着屏幕，手心冒汗，几乎就要梭哈他辛苦攒下的 $bnb。然而，理智最终占了上风——他退后一步，关掉交易界面，选择观望。第二天，那个新币崩盘，散户哀嚎遍野，而Palu保住了他的本金。那一刻，他明白了：在这片丛林里，贪婪是最大的陷阱。
如今，牛市退潮，市场进入了漫长的寒冬。FUD（恐惧、不确定和怀疑）的阴云笼罩着链上世界，X上的帖子充斥着“加密已死”的论调。Palu的钱包余额缩水了一半，但他没有退缩。他知道，真正的机会往往藏在低谷之中。于是，他开始研究那些被遗忘的项目，翻阅白皮书，分析智能合约，甚至学会了用Python抓取链上数据。他发现了一个名为“$PALU”的小众代币，社区不大，却有一群默默耕耘的开发者，似乎在酝酿什么。
的帖子中看到了一句意味深长的话：“帕鲁会挣脱泥潭，冲破云霄。”这让他心头一震——难道这是一个信号？他开始在X上搜索“#palu”，发现零星的讨论指向一个即将推出的去中心化应用，可能与$PALU有关。Palu决定冒险。他用仅剩的资金买入了一部分$PALU，并在X上关注了几个相关的账户，试图挖掘更多信息。一天深夜，他在@hold_yao的帖子中看到了一句意味深长的话：“帕鲁会挣脱泥潭，冲破云霄。”这让他心头一震——难道这是一个信号？他开始在X上搜索“#palu”，发现零星的讨论指向一个即将推出的去中心化应用，可能与$PALU有关。
接下来的日子里，Palu不再只是被动等待。他加入了$PALU的Discord社区，参与讨论，甚至提交了一份优化提案。社区的回应出乎意料地热烈，他的提案被采纳，$PALU的价格也在悄然上涨。寒夜中，一丝曙光终于显现。
然而，传奇之路从不平坦。就在$PALU开始吸引更多目光时，一波黑客攻击席卷而来。某个竞争项目试图通过漏洞窃取资金，X上谣言四起，FUD再度抬头。Palu没有慌乱，他利用自己积累的知识，协助社区分析攻击路径，帮开发者堵住了漏洞。这场危机不仅没有击垮$PALU，反而让它声名鹊起——一个由底层玩家守护的项目，赢得了更多人的信任。
如今，Palu站在一个新的起点。他不再是那个只会在市场起伏中挣扎的小散，他的名字开始在链上世界流传。$PALU的崛起还未到达顶峰，但Palu已经明白，这条加密之路需要的不仅是运气，更是信念、智慧和坚持。未来会怎样？他抬头望向屏幕，心中燃起一团火：无论多残酷，他都要在这片链上丛林里，杀出一条属于自己的血路。

Allah 🙏

[Kevin Armstrong @K_Armstrong066]

@0x_WUDAO @cz_binance @heyibinance 寻找一个共同的理念/精神/价值观吸引志同道合的人
然后大家一起通过各种方式（文字、图片、音乐、视频等）吸引更多人信仰这个理念或精神，甚至让最初嗤之以鼻的人改变态度加入进来

大家一致认可一个币有价值，那就有了价值，不需要任何官方背书

[Kevin Armstrong @K_Armstrong066]

@0xmichael https://t.co/S2sUjARiVh

[木木 💛🌎☮️ @hold_yao]

这作品很赞，真的好看，卡通版palu。
朋友还在加班中。。。❤️
#palu $palu
@Pican0_o

[Leonidas 🧡 $DOG @LeonidasNFT]

@okx Dear @okx,

The $DOG Army is one of the largest memecoin communities however we still do not have a spot listing

You have already done the hard work to integrate with the Runes Protocol so all you need to do now to reap the rewards of that work is to list the #1 Rune $DOG!

[CryptoNest @Usmanmalik1616]

The $DOG price is strong

The $DOG Army is strong

The $DOG narrative is strong

The $DOG CEX listing momentum is strong

It’s time to go to the moon!

[CryptoNest @Usmanmalik1616]

If enough people believe that $DOG will go to $1 then it actually will

[Giovapapa @Giovapapa94]

THE QUESTION IS…
Wen $DOG Spot listing @coinbase ⁉️🧡

[Gunto @GuntoGotEm]

My Young $DOG Jedi, this dip is temporary, patience. For panic brings fear.

Stay strong, stay resilient. Accumulate.

[Gunto @GuntoGotEm]

Want @wallstreetbets to post about $DOG again? Show Jaime how strong the $DOG army really is.

Type “ $DOG 🧡 @wallstreetbets ” in the comments of this post.

Or start your own.

[𝐂ointoshi @CoinsWeb3]

If you made the mistake of not believing in Bitcoin in 2009 don’t make the same mistake of not believing in the #1 memecoin on Bitcoin in 2025 $DOG

[Satoshi Sloth 🍕 $DOG BITCOIN @Satoshi_Sloth]

$DOG: No insiders. No whales. No nonsense. Just pure community hustle. $DOG is leading the Bitcoin memecoin ecosystem. Just ask the GOAT @cryptorecruitr 🐕‍🦺🚀🌖