Last December, I escaped the freezing cold of Austin, Texas to venture down south to the land of Tropicana. Miami, Florida. It was Art Basel week. Fine art and culture were set to collide. This year with a twist. NFTs had taken over South Beach. Brands like Doodles, Heart Project, Cool Cats, and Poolsuite had descended on the sandy shores to show their wares to the world. From murals of Blue Cat and Letters to parties with (#free)Gunna and Amine. It was an extravaganza.

Yet, it’s not the pomp and circumstance I remember most from that trip. It’s the laughter of my friends around a patio table. They laughed and laughed and laughed as they purchased NFTs “for the culture”. These pixelated members of “gooch island” had faalic-like heads, slender curved bodies, and human-like…butts.

As a self proclaimed serious investor I scoffed at my friends lighting their money on fire buying silly images. They simply lacked a sophisticated pallet to buy the blue chips. Projects with apes, clones, cats, and colorful doods. This was doomed to go to zero and I wanted no part of it.

Yet something strange happened. The project, known as CryptoDickbutts (CDB), did not go to zero. Quite the opposite. As of publication, CDB has been on an absolute tear during the bear market. Decrypt, a very serious publication, recently had the following title on their homepage:

So what in the world is going on? To explain CDB we must examine the power of memes.

SEIZE THE MEMES OF PRODUCTION

In our One Big Idea two weeks ago we dove into the power of CC0 to proliferate ideas. By removing legal barriers and creating financial incentives, ideas that hit the public domain can spread like wildfire.

Memes operate in the same fashion. While initially coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, the concept of a meme has always existed. Ideas, when passed from one person to another, are memetic. They are not only an efficient way to express culture but through this expression become culture themselves.

Grumpy Cat is an OG internet meme

Within a community, memes are an unspoken language. They serve as symbols to reinforce a community’s language. Participating in a meme can show both support for an idea and an understanding of your “tribe”.

In my time with the Doodles community I experienced how memes could galvanize a group. They served as an opportunity for the community to find their identity and tone of voice. In preparation for Space Doodles, a product which would wrap our Doodles in spaceships, the community commissioned Doodle holder JuicyJu to photoshop our Doodles into spacesuits and UFOs.

In another instance I bore witness to an entire Twitter Spaces changing their profile picture to Doodle 6892 which a handful of us had fractionalized for no other reason than “for the vibes”. In yet another instance the community donned Home Depot aprons as a recent market downturn meant our Doodles would need to get back to work. Two of the co-founders, Jordan Castro (Poopie) and Evan Keast (Tulip) jumped in on the fun and changed their profile pictures as well. For a germinating community this was a sign of validation. Memes brought us closer together and compounded our shared experiences.

Shitposters, defined by their crude, rough around the edges humor, have amassed influence through their ability to create viral memes. Accounts like Degentraland, ThreadGuy, Tmas, Wendys, and RadioShack have leveraged memes to accelerate brand awareness. Even the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, understands the importance of memes.

But what does “seize the memes of production” really mean? This phrase, which has become a meme itself, is a play on the phrase “Seize the means of production” by Karl Marx. He famously believed the working class would rise up and overthrow the owners of enterprise to dismantle capitalism. The proletariat would come to power by weaponizing their tools, the engine of capitalism itself, as against their owners.

The key takeaway for our purposes is that similar to the tools of capitalism, the power of memes are held by those who spread them. Punk6529, who coined the “seize the memes of production” meme, has spoken to the urgency of the working class seizing the memes. Corporate influence over culture is only growing. To be a bit dramatic, memes represent self sovereignty as long as it’s individuals and not corporations who hold them.

Which brings us back to CryptoDickbutts. There is no technical or fundamental analysis you can muster to explain their rise. No promises of growth, no central vision, no VCs backing up the brink’s truck. None of it. All you have, and all you need, is a highly viral meme. CDB is an inside joke the entire community is in on.

To fade memes is to fade culture. Yes, memes, like culture, are fluid. What grabs our attention today is passe tomorrow. Yet, understanding how societies communicate ideas is a skill that will never go out of style.

Thanks for reading. Happy exploring and make it a great week.

-austin

Last December, I escaped the freezing cold of Austin, Texas to venture down south to the land of Tropicana. Miami, Florida. It was Art Basel week. Fine art and culture were set to collide. This year with a twist. NFTs had taken over South Beach. Brands like Doodles, Heart Project, Cool Cats, and Poolsuite had descended on the sandy shores to show their wares to the world. From murals of Blue Cat and Letters to parties with (#free)Gunna and Amine. It was an extravaganza.

Yet, it’s not the pomp and circumstance I remember most from that trip. It’s the laughter of my friends around a patio table. They laughed and laughed and laughed as they purchased NFTs “for the culture”. These pixelated members of “gooch island” had faalic-like heads, slender curved bodies, and human-like…butts.

As a self proclaimed serious investor I scoffed at my friends lighting their money on fire buying silly images. They simply lacked a sophisticated pallet to buy the blue chips. Projects with apes, clones, cats, and colorful doods. This was doomed to go to zero and I wanted no part of it.

Yet something strange happened. The project, known as CryptoDickbutts (CDB), did not go to zero. Quite the opposite. As of publication, CDB has been on an absolute tear during the bear market. Decrypt, a very serious publication, recently had the following title on their homepage:

So what in the world is going on? To explain CDB we must examine the power of memes.

SEIZE THE MEMES OF PRODUCTION

In our One Big Idea two weeks ago we dove into the power of CC0 to proliferate ideas. By removing legal barriers and creating financial incentives, ideas that hit the public domain can spread like wildfire.

Memes operate in the same fashion. While initially coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, the concept of a meme has always existed. Ideas, when passed from one person to another, are memetic. They are not only an efficient way to express culture but through this expression become culture themselves.

Grumpy Cat is an OG internet meme

Within a community, memes are an unspoken language. They serve as symbols to reinforce a community’s language. Participating in a meme can show both support for an idea and an understanding of your “tribe”.

In my time with the Doodles community I experienced how memes could galvanize a group. They served as an opportunity for the community to find their identity and tone of voice. In preparation for Space Doodles, a product which would wrap our Doodles in spaceships, the community commissioned Doodle holder JuicyJu to photoshop our Doodles into spacesuits and UFOs.

In another instance I bore witness to an entire Twitter Spaces changing their profile picture to Doodle 6892 which a handful of us had fractionalized for no other reason than “for the vibes”. In yet another instance the community donned Home Depot aprons as a recent market downturn meant our Doodles would need to get back to work. Two of the co-founders, Jordan Castro (Poopie) and Evan Keast (Tulip) jumped in on the fun and changed their profile pictures as well. For a germinating community this was a sign of validation. Memes brought us closer together and compounded our shared experiences.

Shitposters, defined by their crude, rough around the edges humor, have amassed influence through their ability to create viral memes. Accounts like Degentraland, ThreadGuy, Tmas, Wendys, and RadioShack have leveraged memes to accelerate brand awareness. Even the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, understands the importance of memes.

But what does “seize the memes of production” really mean? This phrase, which has become a meme itself, is a play on the phrase “Seize the means of production” by Karl Marx. He famously believed the working class would rise up and overthrow the owners of enterprise to dismantle capitalism. The proletariat would come to power by weaponizing their tools, the engine of capitalism itself, as against their owners.

The key takeaway for our purposes is that similar to the tools of capitalism, the power of memes are held by those who spread them. Punk6529, who coined the “seize the memes of production” meme, has spoken to the urgency of the working class seizing the memes. Corporate influence over culture is only growing. To be a bit dramatic, memes represent self sovereignty as long as it’s individuals and not corporations who hold them.

Which brings us back to CryptoDickbutts. There is no technical or fundamental analysis you can muster to explain their rise. No promises of growth, no central vision, no VCs backing up the brink’s truck. None of it. All you have, and all you need, is a highly viral meme. CDB is an inside joke the entire community is in on.

To fade memes is to fade culture. Yes, memes, like culture, are fluid. What grabs our attention today is passe tomorrow. Yet, understanding how societies communicate ideas is a skill that will never go out of style.

Thanks for reading. Happy exploring and make it a great week.

-austin