The Avalanche Foundation has recently shared news about the first batch of meme-coins it has invested in through its Culture Catalyst program. This initiative, launched last year, aims to promote Avalanche’s position in the blockchain world by supporting a wide range of new creative, cultural, and lifestyle projects. The program plans to use a part of its $100 million fund to buy community coins, aiming to make the Avalanche ecosystem more appealing. 

This move is somewhat inspired by the success of the Solana network, which has seen significant growth thanks to meme-coin trading. However, Avalanche is breaking new ground by being the first to buy meme-coins at a Foundation level, setting a precedent in the process.

The first round of meme-coin investments includes KIMBO, COQ, GEC, TECH, and NOCHILL. 

Kimbo ($KIMBO), which launched in December 2023, now has a market cap of about $36 million and 15,500 holders. It plays on the popular dog theme, similar to Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, and even includes its own subnet to expand its ecosystem. Over the last month, its price has tripled.

Coq Inu ($COQ) also started out in December last year and has quickly become one of the top memes on Avalanche with an impressive market cap of $330 million and nearly 60,000 holders. It is listed on major exchanges like Gate and Kucoin, and has seen its market cap jump over 100% in the past 30 days.

Gecko Inu ($GEC), another pick from Avalanche, has also seen remarkable growth recently, with its market cap increasing sixfold in the last 30 days. Launched in December of last year, it now has a market cap of around $21 million and about 9,500 holders. This meme-coin is based around a gecko theme and supports several utility projects, including a swap, launchpad and launch pool.

The TECHimproving ($TECH) meme-coin presents itself as a technology joke, stating on its website that it is a community coin without any real value or financial return expectation. There is no formal team or roadmap, yet it boasts a market cap of over $30 million and around 7,700 holders.

AVAX HAS NO CHILL ($NOCHILL), similarly, is marketed as a token purely for entertainment, claiming no real value or financial prospects. It also has no formal team or roadmap and is considered entirely for fun. It currently has a market cap of about $30 million and around 8,000 holders.

Interestingly, after the announcement of these coins’ inclusion in the Culture Catalysts program, prices initially spiked by around 60%. However, most dropped back down after Bitcoin corrected from its all-time high.

The foundation has also announced that other community coins might join the program in future. It is reportedly particularly interested in ERC-404 tokens, a new class of tokens that the Avalanche community is exploring.

While the long-term impact of these investments is still unknown, it is likely that the Avalanche Foundation does not primarily see them as a way to make money from returns. Instead, they are probably viewed as marketing investments aimed at drawing more users and meme-coin traders into the Avalanche ecosystem, thus promoting community growth and engagement.

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