Avalanche Foundation to Invest in Meme Coin Collection

The Avalanche Foundation, the non-profit organization that oversees development of the Avalanche network, is to purchase a collection of meme coins under its “Culture Catalyst” program.

In a post on Twitter, the foundation stated thatit will purchase “select Avalanche-based meme coins to create a collection,” as part of a bid to broaden its portfolio “to embrace a more complete spectrum of possibilities.”

The Foundation’s selection process for its meme coin collection will be based on criteria including the number of holders, its liquidity thresholds, the maturity of the project, “principles of a fair launch,” and “overall social sentiment,” it added.

Explaining its decision to invest in meme coins, the Avalanche Foundation claimed that they “go beyond mere utility assets,” and represent “the collective spirit and shared interests of diverse crypto communities.”

Meme coins are a type of token that are usually—but not exclusively—based around Internet memes: jokes and images shared on social media. The original meme coin, Dogecoin, was originally created as a joke mocking the proliferation of altcoins.

The price of meme coins is typically influenced by internet cultural phenomena; Dogecoin’s price has waxed and waned in conjunction with billionaire fan Elon Musk’s dog-themed tweets, for example. Other tokens are spun up to capitalize on newsworthy events; the Floki Inu cryptocurrency was named after Musk’s pet dog.

Earlier this year, University Grade Trading Education founder Thomas Kralow told Decrypt that meme coins have nothing to support their price once the “hype dies out” and the cultural phenomenon they’re attached to has faded from view. “It’s not a very sound investment, it’s just gambling,” he warned.

Following the Avalanche Foundation’s announcement, the price of Avalanche-based meme coins including Husky Avax and Coq Inu rose by double-digits, per data from CoinGecko. Husky Avax surged by over 66% in the past 24 hours, while Coq Inu rose by a more modest 11%. Not all Avalanche-based meme coins benefited from the news, though, with the dog-themed Shibavax remaining static on the day.