IOSG: Is the Internet Capital Market a New Trend or Another Meme Hype?

Original Article Title: "IOSG Weekly Brief | Internet Capital Market: A New Trend or Another Meme Craze? #277"

Original Article Author: Mario, IOSG Ventures

TL;DR:

The Internet Capital Market (ICM) is a crypto-native alternative to traditional capital markets (TCM), allowing entrepreneurs to raise funds directly from the online community through tokenization, bypassing cumbersome processes such as venture capital and initial public offerings (IPOs). Platforms like Believe App (formerly Clout) are spearheading this transformation on the Solana blockchain, where users can easily participate in project launches and investments by simply @ing the platform on X (formerly Twitter).

Despite various criticisms, such as lack of regulation, low project entry barriers, and the ease of releasing misleading tokens, ICM still has strong mass adoption potential, especially through a streamlined user experience, fiat onramps, and viral narrative promotion from Web3 to Web2 users. To achieve sustainable development, platforms like Believe need to move beyond short-term hype, promote founder accountability mechanisms, optimize tokenomics, build DAO governance, and deliver real utility, transforming the ICM from a meme frenzy into a genuine new capital formation paradigm.

1. Background of Traditional Capital Markets

In the traditional capital markets (TCM), entrepreneurs often rely on expensive and time-consuming financing methods such as IPOs or venture capital. This path itself poses many challenges. From the perspective of fundraisers, entrepreneurs must deal with lengthy application processes, complex legal procedures, and continuously cater to investor preferences, often making it difficult for them to focus on product development or community building. From the investor's perspective, early investment opportunities are mostly monopolized by large institutions such as hedge funds, mutual funds, etc. Ordinary investors rarely get a share and often have to enter the market after the project's valuation has skyrocketed.

This model is not only inefficient and lacking openness but also results in a severe misalignment of incentives between creators and supporters. These structural issues reflect the market's urgent need for a more open, direct, and participatory funding method, which is precisely what the Internet Capital Market (ICM) aims to address.

Figure 1: Direct Listing Cost Comparison (Adapted from Lily Liu, TOKEN2049 Dubai 2025) [1]

Direct listing is a more cost-effective financing method that bypasses the expensive and time-consuming intermediary processes of traditional fundraising, providing entrepreneurs with a new option. The Internet Capital Market (ICM) shares many similarities with direct listing but theoretically offers more advantages because entrepreneurs fundraise directly through the blockchain.

II. What is ICM

ICM is a new narrative approach in the crypto industry. It allows entrepreneurs to crowdfund for their products directly over the internet, bypassing the cumbersome processes of traditional capital markets. By tokenizing their idea, they can immediately receive support from investors. Unlike the traditional market where investors' shares are usually held by banks or brokerages, in the ICM model, investors hold their funds (token asset) directly through self-custody wallets, maintaining full ownership and liquidity of their assets. This approach not only significantly lowers the barrier to entry for retail investors but also enables project teams to efficiently raise seed capital.

III. Current State of the ICM Ecosystem

It is worth noting that the concept of ICM is not merely an experimental narrative but aligns closely with Solana's own strategic direction. According to a market memo released by the Solana Foundation on November 27, 2024 [19], the foundation envisions building an "Internet-Native Nasdaq," where anyone with a wallet and internet connection can participate in the capital markets. The memo paints a future where financial assets such as stocks, real estate, or cultural tokens can be freely accessed and traded by anyone, anywhere, at any time through a globally shared blockchain ledger, removing many barriers and restrictions present in traditional finance.

The flagship project in the ICM ecosystem on Solana is the Believe App (formerly Clout). This platform enables founders to directly release their tokens by @ mentioning an account on X (formerly Twitter). It aims to disrupt the traditional venture capital model, providing a decentralized, community-driven alternative that empowers creators and entrepreneurs.

Figure 2: LaunchCoin Tokenomics Flowchart (Adapted from @ManoppoMarco, X, 2025) [2]

Figure 3: LaunchCoin Price Timeline (with Author's Note), Screenshot Source: Dexscreener [3]

It all started with Web2 entrepreneur and Forbes "30 Under 30 Elite" Ben Pasternak. He released his own token $Pasternak [14] on the Clout platform in January this year, and its market value once soared to around $77 million. However, due to technical issues—even if the conditions were met, the token could not "graduate"—the project eventually collapsed. [15]

In late April, the platform was officially renamed Believe from Clout, with a shift in focus from "individuals" to "creatives and projects," truly moving towards the ICM direction. $Pasternak was gradually phased out, and the platform also introduced a new core token, $launchcoin. The platform's development quickly gained attention after being retweeted by well-known founders such as Nikita Bier and Solana co-founder Toly. Subsequently, tokens of multiple projects, such as $GOON and $NOODLE, achieved success on Believe and realized high market values. This viral spread and user growth temporarily pushed the platform's total market value to $3.14 billion. [16]

IV. Clanker vs. Believe:

Why Believe Is More Successful

Clanker is another token issuance platform that also allows users to create their own tokens through social media interaction, mainly through tweeting or using Farcaster (a Web3 Twitter) for operations. Although Clanker and Believe seem similar in terms of "issuance method," Believe has several obvious advantages in user experience, narrative structure, and growth potential, which set it apart from the crowd.

Ecosystem Impact

As shown in the chart below, both in terms of transaction volume and the number of active traders, the Solana chain far surpasses the Base chain, providing greater momentum for Believe's expansion. Additionally, with the support of Alliance DAO and retweets from Nikita Bier and Toly, its growth has been further accelerated.

Figure 4: Solana On-Chain Meme Coin Transaction Metrics (Source: Cointoshi, Dune Analytics)[4]

Figure 5: Daily Issued Token Quantity Comparison: Clanker vs. Pump Fun (Source: Clanker Protection Team, Dune Analytics)[5]

User Experience

Figure 6: User Rifqi Saputra (@denyosapone) posting token issuance information on X via Clanker (2025)[6]

Figure 7: User Pata van Goon (@basedalexandoor) showcasing a poster issued through Believe (2025)[7]

We can see that issuing on Believe is much simpler—users only need to provide a token symbol and tag @Believe on X; whereas on Clanker, additional information such as name, icon, etc., is required. In addition, Believe's user interface is more intuitive and clean. They have also developed a mobile app, which is now available on the App Store, allowing users to purchase token assets directly through a wallet or credit card. Clanker, on the other hand, currently only has a web interface and can only be purchased using a wallet, similar to traditional Web3 launchpads.

Figure 8: Believe app interface displaying token list and payment methods (2025)[8]

While Clanker has simplified the "sell" aspect of the token issuance process, users still need some Web3 knowledge to make a purchase, such as how to connect a wallet and add to the Base blockchain. Believe, on the other hand, is completely different, allowing users to issue and purchase tokens without any Web3 knowledge. You can directly issue via Twitter and use a credit card or Apple Pay for purchases. This significantly lowers the entry barrier and has attracted a large number of Web2 users into the Web3 world.

For example, Web2 entrepreneur Alex Leiman (developer of Web3 game noodle.gg similar to slither.io) chose to launch his new token $noodle [9] on Believe.

Narrative and Vision: The Difference Between ICM and Meme Platforms

Believe is one of the early projects to propose the "Internet Capital Market (ICM)" narrative, emphasizing supporting the development of genuine ideas and projects through issuance, rather than hyping meme projects with no real value. This higher-level vision is more likely to resonate with the community, attracting users who wish to participate in meaningful construction and pursue long-term value.

In contrast, Clanker is more like a meme issuance platform focused on short-term speculation and trading. It lacks a clear narrative direction and long-term development vision, thus limiting its appeal to "short-term players" and struggling to establish lasting user stickiness and ecosystem development power.

5. Why ICM Might Just Be Another Wave of Meme Hype

The idea behind ICM is indeed very appealing. However, there is always a trade-off between efficiency and security. When you save time and barriers, you inevitably sacrifice some protection mechanisms.

Founders Don't Need to Commit to Any Responsibility

Unlike the traditional capital market, where traditional projects usually need to go through rigorous roadshows, due diligence, and regulatory approvals before an IPO, in ICM, founders only need to tweet from the official Twitter handle @Believe to easily launch their token. However, the issue is: founders do not have any delivery commitments or legal obligations, and there are no safeguards to ensure they fulfill their initial goals. This lack of a responsibility mechanism is concerning, especially since there have been cases where some "presidential" accounts retweeted a contract address of a token, only to delete the tweet later citing the account was hacked or to distance themselves from the situation. This also reveals the significant risks of the ICM model in an open but unregulated state.

Figure 9: Clout's official guide emphasizing that the token must be used for non-securities scenarios (2025) [10]

According to LaunchCoin's official guidelines, to avoid the token itself being classified as a security or investment product, the platform has established very strict legal compliance requirements. For example: the token must not represent equity, nor can it imply any form of return. Their design intent should be more like digital souvenirs, allowing supporters to express their support for the project, rather than a security that brings income, dividends, or profit sharing.

This also highlights a key issue: there is a significant disconnect between the token itself and the underlying project. According to the guide, the token is essentially very similar to a meme coin—it has no real-world use case, and its existence is more of a symbolic "support the founder" gesture.

While this approach can indeed help the project team raise funds and push the project forward, many investors may mistakenly think they are participating in a high-quality early-stage investment opportunity. Many believe they are playing the role of angel investors, helping hard-working entrepreneurs, when in reality, these minted tokens offer no promise of returns and have no security mechanism.

Abused Narrative

Figure 10: Market statistics for the Believe ecosystem, including tokens ranked by market cap, trading volume, and 24-hour price change (2025) [11]

From the current market data, ICM's initial vision was to support founders and their projects, but it is now being blatantly abused. Among the top three projects' tokens ranked by platform market capitalization, two are essentially meme coins.

ICM was originally meant to empower truly creative builders, but the current situation is rather ironic: many are merely leveraging the narrative of "supporting a project" while essentially fueling rounds of meme hype. These tokens, devoid of any real purpose, end up receiving more attention and fame than projects that genuinely need financial support [17]

Six. What Is the Next Step for ICM

Currently, issuing tokens on Believe is zero cost for founders, but their market performance is highly dependent on the ongoing progress of the project itself. To incentivize founders to continually update their projects and maintain community interest, Believe should consider optimizing its existing tokenomics.

For example, a penalty mechanism could be set up through smart contracts: if a founder fails to update the project for a long time or goes into a "missing in action" status, they would not be able to receive transaction fee revenue. Additionally, establishing a DAO mechanism is also very necessary, giving the community voting rights and project governance to enhance transparency and the founding team's sense of responsibility.

Fundamentally, I believe ICM is more than just a short-term meme frenzy; it indeed has greater potential, but it requires clearer rules and a more mature ecosystem to support its development. The concept of ICM reminds me of TON's promotional path—TON leveraged the Telegram platform to successfully transition a large number of Web2 users into the Web3 world.

Currently, all crypto assets combined account for only about 0.56% of the global money supply [18]. To truly popularize Web3, a more straightforward and intuitive way of use must be provided. The real value of ICM is its ability to attract and convert a large number of Web2 users without requiring them to have deep Web3 knowledge.

Although some currently view Believe as just another meme-style issuance platform, it is rapidly growing and has captured market share on the Solana chain that was originally dominated by established platforms like Pump Fun. By diluting Pump Fun's monopolistic position, Solana has also mitigated the selling pressure it faced.

In the past, Pump Fun almost held a monopoly position in the token issuance platform and could freely use $SOL for transactions, forcing users to use it as the primary option. Now, the rise of Believe has disrupted this situation, bringing more competitive choices to retail investors and reducing the liquidity risks caused by centralized platforms [17].

Figure 11: Solana's major token issuance platforms' daily active address market share, comparing BelieveApp with PumpFun, LetsBonk, and other competitors' share percentage (2025) [12]

In the short term, if Believe can continue to maintain an advantage in competition with other traditional token issuance platforms, this narrative of ICM is likely to exist in the long term because achieving mass adoption of Web3 has always been the ultimate goal of the entire ecosystem. However, if Believe wants to truly establish itself and avoid becoming a flash-in-the-pan hype platform like Clanker, it must further strengthen and expand its unique position: not just as an issuance tool but as a platform that drives project incubation and real value creation.

Figure 12: Price trend chart of Let'sBonk ($BONK), showing the initial skyrocketing and subsequent trends brought solely by "narrative" (2025) [13]

This means that ICM must build deeper practical value around the concept of the "Internet Capital Market." Specifically, it can start from the following directions:

· Drive a truly meaningful Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

· Establish a founder-accountable governance system

· Integrate projects with real-world use cases to attract a broader mainstream audience.

If Believe does not evolve in this direction, it may be perceived by the market as yet another meme platform, ultimately losing the drive to achieve long-term growth. To truly make a lasting impact, Believe must not only be a meme coin launching platform but also become an innovative platform that inspires creativity, drives projects, connects the masses, and promotes Web3 adoption.

Appendix

[1] Lily Liu. 2025. Building Internet Capital Markets on Solana - TOKEN2049 Dubai 2025.  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXAshrNDBVY

[2] Manoppo, Marco (@ManoppoMarco). 2025. LaunchCoin tokenomics workflow. Retrieved from https://x.com/ManoppoMarco/status/1922713575594000892/photo/4

[3] Dexscreener. 2025. LaunchCoin price chart. Retrieved from https://dexscreener.com/solana/yrrustgpugdp8bbfosqdefssen6sa75zs1qjvgnhtmy

(Annotations by author)

[4] Cointoshi. 2025. Solana Memecoin Trading Metrics. Dune Analytics. Retrieved from https://dune.com/cointoshi/solmemes

[5] Clanker Protection Team. 2025. Daily Volume of Tokens Deployed: Clanker vs. Pump Fun. Dune Analytics. Retrieved from https://dune.com/clanker_protection_team/clanker-vs-others

[6] Saputra, Rifqi (@denyosapone). 2025. Token deployment post for FISH AI. X post, May 3, 2025. Retrieved from https://x.com/derrysapone/status/1918381979332157725

[7] van Goon, Pata (@basedalexandoor). 2025. Token deployment post for $GOONC. X post, May 13, 2025. Retrieved from https://x.com/basedalexandoor/status/1922114549815099698

[8] Believe. 2025. Believe app interface screenshot. Retrieved from the Believe mobile application, May 20, 2025.

[9] Believe (@believeapp). 2025. $NOODLE just launched on Believe. Built by @alex_leiman. X post, May 13, 2025. Retrieved from https://x.com/believeapp/status/1922075588115775489

[10] Clout. 2025. Legal guidelines for creators. Clout Playbook. Retrieved from https://www.clout.me/playbook

[11] Believe Screener. 2025. Market data dashboard of the Believe ecosystem. Retrieved from https://www.believescreener.com/

[12] BeinCrypto. 2025. Solana Launchpads Daily Active Addresses. Dune Analytics. Retrieved from https://dune.com/beincrypto/solana-launchpads

[13] GMGN.ai. 2025. Let'sBonk token ($BONK) price chart. Retrieved from https://gmgn.ai/sol/token/CDBdbNqmrLu1PcgjrFG52yxg71QnFhBZcUE6PSFdbonk

[14] Wikipedia contributors. 2025. Ben Pasternak. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 22, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Pasternak

[15] Finet.hk. 2024. Believe Rises, Sparking a Wave of Hong Kong Token Issuance. Retrieved from https://www.finet.hk/newscenter/news_content/68246ac8800d456e80466411

[16] Crypto Chris. 2024. Believe Launches! One-Click Launchpad, the Strongest Launchpad on the Internet? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrGD3oo7gh8

[17] Coinsider. 2024. Solana 2024: Pump.fun, Rug AI, Believe, Clout, Launch Labs… Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQje6i_7LQs

[18] Frankenfield, J. 2023. How Much of the World's Money Is in Bitcoin? Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-much-worlds-money-bitcoin/

[19] BlockBeats. 2024. Revealing the Solana Foundation Marketing Memo: The Perfect Victory of Internet Capital and the F.A.T. Principle. Published November 27, 2024. Retrieved from https://en.theblockbeats.news/news/55923

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