International soccer legend Lionel Messi has jumped on the meme bandwagon and is promoting a Solana-based memecoin called WaterCoin (WATER) through his Instagram Stories.
According to WaterCoin's documentation, the project is focused on raising awareness for water-related issues, with the goal of becoming a full-fledged ecological coin in the future.
WaterCoin's roadmap outlines four stages from the initial presale of the token, through centralized exchange listings and celebrity partnerships, to the final phase of becoming a "charity-focused environmental currency."
Beyond this high-level overview, the roadmap is scant on details of how the project will achieve these goals and the token's price action has exhibited the pattern characteristic of "pump and dump" mechanics.
Memecoin mania continues
Investing in memecoins carries substantial risk, as the meteoric price increases are often not tied to the utility of the underlying asset, assuming there is utility or use case for the meme token at all.
Still, this has not deterred traders from taking on significant risks in the hopes of reaping windfall profits. The popularity of memecoins has sparked debate within the crypto community and prompted some to decry the tokens as negative for the cryptocurrency space due to the bad image they create and the ensuing scrutiny from regulators.
Others argue that memecoins have utility, can act as metrics for broader trends, gauge market sentiment, and foster vibrant communities that provide value for their members.
Onchain ecology
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies offer novel solutions for environmental protection due to their transparent nature and community-empowering technologies. These features could enable trustless crowd-sourcing, organization, and onchain verifiability.
In 2022, Samsung joined the list of companies using blockchain systems to track planted trees, using Veritree's technology. The initiative centered around capturing 1 billion pounds of carbon over the next 25 years by replenishing forests in Madagascar.
The environmental scrutiny Bitcoin (BTC) has drawn has likewise created a growing emphasis on sustainable mining practices and harnessing renewable forms of energy like solar, geothermal, and even nuclear energies to mine digital scarcity.
El Salvador is one of the leading examples of this, with the country recently announcing it mined 474 Bitcoin using geothermal volcanic energy.