Written by: LILY Z. KING, Cobo COO Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow

An artist with no programming experience managed to create a Memecoin, Turbo, with the help of ChatGPT, which is worth $70 million today. The case draws attention to the possibilities at the intersection of AI, memes, and cryptocurrencies. In this article, Cobo's COO LILY Z. KING shares her thoughts on the upcoming changes facing the Web3 world.

Since the cryptocurrency market cap peaked in mid-2022, the crypto world lacks a strong new story to spark interest in the venture capital and tech communities. Meanwhile, generative AI is attracting all the capital and attention with game-changing models like GPT and Stable Diffusion.

Since early April, however, we have seen a surprising new wave of Memecoin hype. This trend is mostly just another zero-sum game played by traders trying to fill the void of a real breakthrough in technology or use case. But something fantastic is also happening: Generative AI is driving a new generation of meme coins.

That’s the case with Turbo Toad Token — a memecoin that made its founder, Rhett Dashwood, a fortune. Dashwood, an artist with no coding experience, created Memecoin — and even came up with its name — with the help of ChatGPT.

On his own YouTube channel, Dashwood tearfully describes his struggles to sell digital art in a bear market. He came up with the idea of using AI to create Memecoin and documented the process on social media. With a budget of only $69, relying on ChatGPT-4 to help him create a successful meme coin with the goal of ranking in the top 300 on CoinGecko while avoiding any illegal activity. "I'm totally dependent on AI," Dashwood said in the video.

Despite having no knowledge of programming or smart contracts, with the help of ChatGPT, Dashwood was able to develop his Memecoin concept, write the white paper, build smart contracts, develop its token economics, and even create liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges .

The total market cap of his Memecoin TURBO hit $70 million less than a week after its token launch.

Generative AI tools are now leveling the barriers for creators, giving everyone the opportunity to create their own memes and issue their own tokens, even if they don’t have any programming or design skills.

The case of Turbo Toad hints at a future where tokenization is a wealth creation tool available to anyone. However, this also means that there could be countless Memecoin launches after this, most of which will not receive any public attention.

Opportunities will abound at the intersection of AI, meme, and cryptocurrency, but betting blindly on Memecoin probably won't be one of them. Most Memecoins can barely build any moats when the barriers to entry for creating, duplicating, and mixing Memes are almost non-existent.

So, what opportunities will arise when AI democratizes the creation and tokenization of memes?

As we look back at the democratization of media in the Web2 era, allowing a large number of users to create text, images, and videos and publish them on the Internet, UGC or user-generated content has become a force reshaping the Internet ecosystem. Now that AI can help users not only create content, but also write smart contracts and design token economics, UGC—or user-generated tokens—could become a defining force in the Web3 ecosystem.

While building a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol for million-dollar transactions may still be professional, launching a Memecoin that has cultural resonance with a specific audience is well within the reach of the average user, as we see at Turbo Toad as it arrived.

User-generated content has created superstars like Justin Bieber, who started his career posting videos on YouTube. But more importantly, it empowers anyone to create content, gain attention, build influence in a community, and sometimes monetize that attention and influence.

User-generated tokens could have a similar impact. Yes, some Memecoins may miraculously reach a million dollar market cap. But the real change is that anyone will have the opportunity to launch a personalized Memecoin based on their interests, hobbies or relationships. This can lead to the formation of unique niche communities where these tokens facilitate interaction and co-creation within the group.

By combining the content creation and coding capabilities of AI, the cultural resonance of memes, and the financialization capabilities of cryptocurrencies, there are ways for user-generated tokens to create real value.

For example, they can be a powerful tool for crowdfunding and sponsorship, allowing content creators to raise funds by tokenizing their work. They can also be used to motivate community members to participate in co-creation or to promote meme items in their social circles.

Looking ahead, while the current memecoin may be a transitional trend, meme creation and tokenized democracy have the potential to create exciting opportunities. User-generated tokens can provide new ways for individuals and communities to interact, collaborate and create value in Web3.