Memecoins financialized attention, but that attention proved fleeting. You get frontrun by bots, you get frontrun by KOLs, you’re not really interested in buying more slop. The market got fatigued to a point where we ended up reminding each other daily to just believe in something. This gave rise to a narrative of appcoins, where building an engaging app could prove to be fertile ground for financial buy-in from the app’s users, speculators and other believers. 

Appcoins haven’t yet experienced the stickiness that memecoins did. They are a little harder to define and explain, not to mention the burden of making the actual app. They are much harder to grok an app than a picture of a dog is. There is a level of right-curvedness and mental lift that comes with the idea of an appcoin. While there is nothing wrong with experimenting and trying to create different asset classifications, the market doesn’t seem to have the same level of appetite for it. And this is where things start shifting from tokenizing ephemeral slop to tangible apps to the intangible value of brands. 

Rekt started as an NFT project in 2022. In 2023 (this part is important) it incorporated as Rekt Brands Inc. and launched Rekt Drinks. The earliest supporters, holders of the Rektguy NFT, were later offered equity in the company. In November 2024, the $REKT token was deployed on Ethereum and bridged to every other chain, thereby tokenizing the Rekt brand. But (and this is also important) holding the $REKT token does not grant you any rights or ownership over the company that owns the Rekt IP, because regulations.

What it does imply is that you feel aligned with the brand of Rekt. Being a $REKT holder doesn’t grant you equity in Rekt Brands Inc, but it carries meaning. An expression of belief and alignment with whatever it is that Rekt does. There is a parallel between Rekt and Red Bull in that they both use a brand-first model for activations and distribution. ”Red Bull” doesn’t mean “energy drink”. Red Bull equates to adrenaline, adventure, speed and fearless pursuit of the extreme. These brand associations are so ingrained into Red Bull’s DNA that if you went to watch an extreme sports event and did not see their logo plastered everywhere, you would be forgiven to think it was a small-scale or amateur division event. Monster employs a similar strategy, but in the realm of e-sports.

Brand coins are essentially what many memecoins want to become and almost every appcoin lacks without realizing it. Memecoins are speculation-first and through the good work of volunteers, sometimes attempt to grow into an established brand. It occasionally works out, but often doesn’t. Some examples are Doge, Pepe, Floki, Higher, etc. Often failing because there are too many bag holders and no unified force to properly drive the brand. 

With apps, there is a central force to push things along but good apps are hard to make. Niche apps will always end up creating two user groups that you need to address: the coin holders and the actual app users. Messaging and branding for appcoins is exponentially harder than for memecoins. 

Creating a token for your brand (NB: not your company) simplifies both problems. Not tying it to be only an app means there is a much wider canvas for what can materialize to represent the brand; in the case of Rekt there are Rekt Radio, Rektguy NFTs and Rekt Drinks, which did a collaboration with Base to launch the Based Lime flavor of Rekt. The significance of the Based Lime launch is that it shows how easy it is for a brand to plug into relevant collabs that lead to activations and wider distribution. 

A brand capable of literally speaking for itself will find that the specifics of the product matter less. The point is to generate activations and distribution, which leads to revenue for the company and flows for the token. This can reinforce the brand, attract attention, increase activations, and so on. Rekt has proven to possess cultural significance for some years, at least in our crypto bubble. A token layer makes brand significance participatory and visible, and provides a foundation for a strong flywheel. 

Brand doesn’t run on pure attention. A good brand means mindshare and relevance. Intangible qualities that are hard to gain and grow. But given the existence of such a brand, there really hasn’t been a good avenue for the market to express an opinion of what that brand should be worth (outside of doing an actual IPO or private rounds). 

Regulatory disclaimers are unavoidable, but fair brand coin launches create a missing outlet without crossing into equity or securities. Since $REKT does not give holders rights to the company’s tangible assets, its market value is best understood as a signal of the Rekt’s perceived relevance and trajectory.

Memecoins financialized attention, but that attention proved fleeting. You get frontrun by bots, you get frontrun by KOLs, you’re not really interested in buying more slop. The market got fatigued to a point where we ended up reminding each other daily to just believe in something. This gave rise to a narrative of appcoins, where building an engaging app could prove to be fertile ground for financial buy-in from the app’s users, speculators and other believers. 

Appcoins haven’t yet experienced the stickiness that memecoins did. They are a little harder to define and explain, not to mention the burden of making the actual app. They are much harder to grok an app than a picture of a dog is. There is a level of right-curvedness and mental lift that comes with the idea of an appcoin. While there is nothing wrong with experimenting and trying to create different asset classifications, the market doesn’t seem to have the same level of appetite for it. And this is where things start shifting from tokenizing ephemeral slop to tangible apps to the intangible value of brands. 

Rekt started as an NFT project in 2022. In 2023 (this part is important) it incorporated as Rekt Brands Inc. and launched Rekt Drinks. The earliest supporters, holders of the Rektguy NFT, were later offered equity in the company. In November 2024, the $REKT token was deployed on Ethereum and bridged to every other chain, thereby tokenizing the Rekt brand. But (and this is also important) holding the $REKT token does not grant you any rights or ownership over the company that owns the Rekt IP, because regulations.

What it does imply is that you feel aligned with the brand of Rekt. Being a $REKT holder doesn’t grant you equity in Rekt Brands Inc, but it carries meaning. An expression of belief and alignment with whatever it is that Rekt does. There is a parallel between Rekt and Red Bull in that they both use a brand-first model for activations and distribution. ”Red Bull” doesn’t mean “energy drink”. Red Bull equates to adrenaline, adventure, speed and fearless pursuit of the extreme. These brand associations are so ingrained into Red Bull’s DNA that if you went to watch an extreme sports event and did not see their logo plastered everywhere, you would be forgiven to think it was a small-scale or amateur division event. Monster employs a similar strategy, but in the realm of e-sports.

Brand coins are essentially what many memecoins want to become and almost every appcoin lacks without realizing it. Memecoins are speculation-first and through the good work of volunteers, sometimes attempt to grow into an established brand. It occasionally works out, but often doesn’t. Some examples are Doge, Pepe, Floki, Higher, etc. Often failing because there are too many bag holders and no unified force to properly drive the brand. 

With apps, there is a central force to push things along but good apps are hard to make. Niche apps will always end up creating two user groups that you need to address: the coin holders and the actual app users. Messaging and branding for appcoins is exponentially harder than for memecoins. 

Creating a token for your brand (NB: not your company) simplifies both problems. Not tying it to be only an app means there is a much wider canvas for what can materialize to represent the brand; in the case of Rekt there are Rekt Radio, Rektguy NFTs and Rekt Drinks, which did a collaboration with Base to launch the Based Lime flavor of Rekt. The significance of the Based Lime launch is that it shows how easy it is for a brand to plug into relevant collabs that lead to activations and wider distribution. 

A brand capable of literally speaking for itself will find that the specifics of the product matter less. The point is to generate activations and distribution, which leads to revenue for the company and flows for the token. This can reinforce the brand, attract attention, increase activations, and so on. Rekt has proven to possess cultural significance for some years, at least in our crypto bubble. A token layer makes brand significance participatory and visible, and provides a foundation for a strong flywheel. 

Brand doesn’t run on pure attention. A good brand means mindshare and relevance. Intangible qualities that are hard to gain and grow. But given the existence of such a brand, there really hasn’t been a good avenue for the market to express an opinion of what that brand should be worth (outside of doing an actual IPO or private rounds). 

Regulatory disclaimers are unavoidable, but fair brand coin launches create a missing outlet without crossing into equity or securities. Since $REKT does not give holders rights to the company’s tangible assets, its market value is best understood as a signal of the Rekt’s perceived relevance and trajectory.