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Taking only examples from one side makes the basis of the argument unclear. SUI and APTOS distributed enormous incentives for bootstrapping, resulting in successful ecosystem growth and gaining momentum. While the fundamentals are indeed important, and we builders are working hard to create good products for these fundamentals, we need good marketing and initial user incentives to properly introduce them to the world. Even Blastâs failure ultimately came from the foundation doing nothing for six months after TGE and driving ecosystem builders away without any support - if they had properly maintained momentum, they might have succeeded. They were really successful in bootstrapping itself. Manta failed because it launched with the sole purpose of making a quick profit through TGE and CEX listings without any real objectives, and continued to show little effort afterward - making the situation completely different from Soneium.
Small-scale campaigns of $1M scale create no ripple effect. Even for a short period, we need to make an impact that everyone can notice to get results worth the money spent.
Properly scaled incentive campaigns targeting the right audience have rarely failed. What matters is how you maintain the momentum after that, and I think everyone needs to work together in parallel with the campaign.
5 Likes
I believe the comparison youâre making is a red herring. While your point might be valid when comparing solely within the L2 EVM ecosystem, itâs not directly applicable when considering non-EVM or non-L2 chains. Our focus here is Soneium, an L2 EVM solution.
This chart shown a decline in TVL across most L2s following their token generation events (TGEs), not just Blast and Manta. This isnât necessarily indicative of inactivity from the foundation, short-sighted profit-taking, or a lack of developer effort. Itâs a complex interplay of market dynamics and tokenomic factors.
I appreciate the buildersâ hard work and acknowledge their contributions, particularly during the Surge period. My primary concern, like others here, is the sustainable growth of $ASTR. However, I question the effectiveness of TVL incentives, especially when funded from the treasury, as the what happen for Astar ZkEVMâs growth.
The historical data from the Astar ZkEVM (the predecessor to the current L2) Yoki Origin campaign, which allocated 9 million $ASTR from the treasury, illustrates this point. While the campaign likely boosted initial TVL, it also arguably contributed to a significant and sustained decline in $ASTRâs market capitalization.
Attributing this âsmall-scaleâ $1 million USD equivalent overlooks the crucial role of tokenomics and liquidity pool dynamics. As a DEX, you should the first one who understand the dilutive impact of new token mint/release on existing token holders, particularly when large amounts of tokens are released into circulation. This dilution pressure can outweigh the perceived benefits of incentivized TVL. As the latest @pithecus post, many unclear proposal objectives, and Sony participation and risk here.
Therefore, we need to carefully analyze the long-term impact of treasury-funded incentives on $ASTRâs price and overall ecosystem health, rather than focusing solely on short-term TVL gains. A more sustainable approach might involve focusing on organic growth with little incentive driven by genuine user adoption and developer activity, just like what Base, Optimism and Arbitrum do.
3 Likes
From a chain perspective, I donât think we need to limit ourselves to just L2 EVM when considering incentivized bootstrapping and sustained growth. Since I wasnât around during the zkEVM era, Iâm not too familiar with the campaigns from that time, but whatâs certain is that zkEVM wasnât particularly mainstream even then. Both Polygon and Cronos tried zkEVM but failed since they had no particular advantages or distinctive features. However, Superchain L2 is different. Currently, uniting liquidity/community through enhanced cross-chain ability of Superchain is emerging as ETHâs hope to stay ahead of Solana, and itâs a much better environment for other L2 and ETH users to migrate to. Especially since ACS will end without using the TGE card like Blast or Manta, thereâs a higher probability that people will stay afterward in anticipation of a TGE in the future 
Even from the perspective of just looking at the $ASTR token, I think itâs quite a lot positive. Even before TVL has been properly incentivized, ASTR volume is already approaching $1m/day. Looking at Coingecko, this is higher than OKX and reaches 50% of Gateio volume. The -2% depth is $50k. The ASTR distributed to numerous retail investors through ACS, and the ASTR liquidity and volume that will be created through incentives will help surpass Binanceâs CEX volume. A tokenâs value increases when it has use cases, sustained mindshare, and active trading. When itâs just sitting in the Treasury with no new inflows, no mindshare, and dead trading volume, circulating supply is no longer the issue. Through this campaign, as funds flow into Soneium overall and people whoâve never encountered ASTR before become aware of it, things will become lively again. ASTR pairs will be of course prioritized on the campaign as well. While itâs generally impossible for other L1 assets to become major bluechip assets on ETH L2, I think ACS could be an important event that makes this possible and is a good way to grow together!
Rather than reducing incentives for initiatives to meaningless levels in an effort to decrease circulation, one possible way is to review and adjust current dappstaking system. Major factor in inflation is the default yearly inflation rate which is currently set as 7% of the total supply, not a one-time event like this which would actually contribute to the growth.
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Because the thread was open, I just would like to adjust this statement. The 7% is the max inflation possible in best case scenario of the network. The inflation itself is dynamic and can best be followed in our dashboard: https://portal.astar.network/astar/dashboard
2 Likes
I have two concerns about this:
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Direct incentives for memes have been proven through Blast to destroy rather than revitalize meme culture. Memes should grow through organic interest and hype with natural trading volume, but once direct incentives are attached, the meme culture itself disappears. Previously successful memes die off as the space becomes a battlefield for gold mining, turning into a pump & dump venue - this led to the extinction of Blastâs meme coin culture. They tried similar approaches like gold jackpot and holder gold airdrops, but this resulted in liquidity providers and other DeFi users spending more money while receiving much less gold, breaking their confidence and attracting widespread criticism of the policy. Additionally, the launchpad created by D2 on Blast also failed after introducing gold incentives. Looking back, successful meme pads consistently lacked such artificial incentivization. LP users and meme culture have fundamentally different characteristics. There are too many cases where market distortion had negative impacts in this area, making it challenging.
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Considering that only 2.5% is distributed to all Surge participants, 1-2% is a significant amount. I know thereâs an AI agent meme launchpad being prepared with Posse and other memepads in development, so Iâd prefer if this could be used comprehensively for memes. However, again, I think we need to consider that allocating direct money to meme pads doesnât always have a positive impact on meme culture.
2 Likes
thanks for the correction. Yeah it was an example. Seems there was a massive burn before seeing from the cliff on that graph? 
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Because this discussion about ACS program is funded by $ASTR treasury for Soneium sake, itâs important to make a high quality study instead of just quick marketing hack. Therefor, I believe putting the high relevant chains (L2 EVMs) when considering incentives is important to increase the similarity and succesion for incentive.
Also, Itâs crucial to recognize that attracting liquidity and users requires more than just technical infrastructure. It requires a compelling value proposition within the Soneium ecosystem itself. Simply being part of Superchain doesnât guarantee success if thereâs no organic demand or unique features driving adoption on our Chain. The examples of Polygon and Cronos, despite their zkEVM efforts, highlight this point. They failed not because of technical limitations, but due to a lack of compelling use cases and community engagement.
The absence of a TGE for ACS can be seeing as a positive factor. Although this might create some initial hype, itâs not a sustainable long-term strategy. Speculation on future events can be fleeting, and ultimately, the projectâs success hinges on delivering real value and utility.
Regarding $ASTRâs current trading volume, while approaching $1 million/day. Trading volume alone doesnât necessarily translate to sustainable token value. High volume can be driven by speculation and manipulation, not genuine user adoption. The argument about surpassing Binanceâs CEX volume through incentives needs further scrutiny. CEX volume is influenced by numerous factors, including oracle, trading bots, and arbitrage. Simply throwing tokens at the problem doesnât guarantee sustainable volume growth. Furthermore, even if we achieve high CEX volume, it doesnât necessarily translate to increased on-chain activity or genuine utility within the $ASTR and Soneium ecosystem.
The cliff happen not because of burning. The graph showing inflation not token in circulation, so burning is irrelevant. This happen because the new Staking 3.0 from $ASTR that implemented during early 2024.
I understand the concerns about direct incentives for meme coins and the negative effects seen on Blast. However, if we take @SoneFi-Dex model on Astar as an example, it is structured differently to avoid the same problems.
- No artificial incentives â There are no airdrops or direct rewards that create pumps and dumps like on Blast. The purchase of meme coins is done via a bonding curve with ASTR and by completing the bonding curve they will be listed on SoneFi Swap
- Liquidity locked for 100 years â Unlike Blast, where LPs could withdraw funds and create instability, here the liquidity of ASTR/Meme remains locked. Users can always exchange meme coins for ASTR, but no one can remove the liquidity, ensuring stability and growth of TVL in the long term.
As we well know the market goes according to trends and currently we know the large user base and the huge Capital that circulates behind memes.
Not to mention AI agents, a trend to bet on in my opinion because it could explode even more than memes.
Thank you for raising thoughtful concerns. Let me clarify our position and address your points directly to demonstrate why this proposal aligns with Astarâs long-term goals while fostering organic meme culture:
1.Blastâs Failures Were Systemic, Not Meme-Specific
While Blastâs ecosystem collapsed due to systemic mismanagementâharming holders, builders, and investors alikeâmeme culture demonstrated remarkable resilience, emerging as one of the few thriving on-chain communities. This resilience highlights the inherent staying power of memes, even in flawed or failing ecosystems.
Blastâs downfall was rooted in broad incentive misalignment, not memes themselves. To avoid these pitfalls, our approach focuses on targeted alignment:
- ASTR Integration: Rewarding only memes that incorporate ASTR into their liquidity models, such as bonding curves or ASTR-backed pools.
- Community-Driven Growth: Ensuring incentives amplify organic interest rather than distorting it.
By aligning meme incentives with ASTRâs utility, we create a sustainable ecosystem where cultural virality and token value grow hand-in-hand.
2. Organic Growth Is a Myth â Memes Require Strategic Support
The notion of âpurely organicâ meme success is misleading. Even iconic projects like DOGE and PEPE relied on coordinated catalysts:
- Elon Muskâs amplification (DOGE),
- VC-backed liquidity (e.g., ELIZA by a16z),
- Institutional-grade market-making (TRUMP, VINE).
SoneFiâs model replicates this sustainably:
- We act as a meme accelerator, not a handout platform.
- Creators gain access to:
- Community supports via SoneFiâs bing community
- Built-in liquidity via ASTR-integrated pools,
- Cross-promotion across Soneiumâs 3,000+ investors and 1,000+ meme projects.
This mirrors Solanaâs playbook, where 95% of AI/Agent tokens launched as memes (e.g., BONK, WIF) to leverage viral traction.
3. D2âs Failure vs. SoneFiâs Comprehensive Ecosystem
Meme launchpads have become critical infrastructure for chains, akin to DEXs, lending protocols, and indexing tools like The Graph. They are one of the most efficient ways to grow native on-chain assets, especially as market trends show a growing convergence between utility tokens and meme coins.
While D2 failed as a pure launchpad, its downfall highlights a key lesson: success in this space requires more than just basic launch functionality.
Meme launches are a multi-dimensional competition involving:
- Users: Attracting and retaining a vibrant community,
- Creators: Empowering meme builders with tools and incentives,
- Investors: Ensuring liquidity and market depth,
- Launchpad Infrastructure: Providing seamless token issuance and trading,
- Marketing Strategy: Amplifying visibility and engagement.
SoneFi is not a âpure launchpadââitâs a one-stop DeFi gateway on Soneium, designed to address these complexities. Key upgrades include:
- Swap Aggregator(Lauch within Feb): Deep liquidity for volatile meme tokens,
- Perp V2(Launch at next week): Instant listings for high-risk, high-reward assets,
- AI Agent Integration: Enhancing meme launches with AI-driven tools.
With 3,000+ real investors and 1,000+ memes launched, SoneFi has already established itself as a vibrant ecosystem, far surpassing D2âs limited scope.
4. The ACS Meme Contestâs True Purpose: ASTR Utility
The proposed 1% allocation to meme initiatives is proportional to their outsized impact:
- ASTR Utility Boost: Every meme launched on SoneFi locks ASTR into bonding curves, directly increasing demand.
- TVL Growth: Meme liquidity (often 10-100x more volatile than DeFi staples) attracts traders, raising Soneiumâs TVL and ASTRâs valuation.
- Cultural Relevance: Memes are the narrative driver in crypto (see Solanaâs resurgence). Ignoring them risks ceding mindshare to competitors.
This isnât about âfunding memesââitâs about positioning ASTR as the backbone of Soneiumâs entertainment-first economy.
5. Why This Works for ASTR Holders
The ACS meme contest is explicitly designed to prioritize ASTRâs utility, not generic âMeme cultureâ:
- Strict Criteria: Rewards require ASTR integration (liquidity locks, staking, governance).
- Surge Synergy: Meme-driven TVL growth benefits all Surge protocols, which receive 80% of ACS rewards.
- Long-Term Vision: Weâre building a self-sustaining ecosystemânot a pump-and-dump arena.
6. Next Steps: Transparency & Collaboration
If approved, weâll:
- Publish public contest rules with community voting,
- Continuously audit outcomes to ensure alignment with ASTRâs goals.
At lastďź
The primary objective of the ACS meme contest is not merely to launch memes, but to strategically amplify ASTRâs utility within the Soneium ecosystem. By seamlessly integrating ASTR into meme liquidity mechanismsâsuch as bonding curves and locked liquidity poolsâwe incentivize creators to align their efforts with Soneiumâs mission: positioning ASTR as the cornerstone of an entertainment-driven Web3 economy poised to onboard billions of users.
2 Likes
2.5% is allocated to Astar Surge. You can participate in the campaign to earn a share of the remaining 97.5% ACS. Itâs far from âmerely getting diluted for nothingâ.
Thank you for bringing this up so that everyone can see the sentiment of the KR community. The intent was to seek approval for the ACS campaign itself. As Maarten mentioned, we can fine-tune things along the way during execution.
1 Like
Thank you for your response, Jay, but sorry, I donât share your opinion when you say that the participants of the LFGM campaign have already been rewarded.
That is true for some lucky winners who were drawn, but what about those who were in the top 10 or top 50 for 7 weeks but won nothing?
I agree that it was announced from the beginning that the campaign would not be incentivized with tokens, but when a 100M ASTR campaign is later launched, I think it would be wise not to forget those who have been there from the beginning and grant them at least a small percentage in proportion to the LFGM collected (at least for the top 100 who won nothing).
I sincerely believe that this sends a negative message to the community that has been present since the beginning and participating at the LFGM campaign.
1 Like
I voted Aye on Subsquare for the allocation of 100M ASTR to the ACS campaign, but I hope some adjustments can still be made.
Regarding the projects selected to participate in the campaign, is the list of projects final, or can other projects be added later?
2 Likes
As per the community vote results, Astar Degen DAO community has voted NAY! on this proposal for the following reasons:
1. There is no vesting period or split distribution, which may induce strong sell pressure.
A split distribution and/or a vesting period of at least 3 to 6 months should be implemented to reduce sell pressure on ASTR. Additionally, a split of the rewards between Astar Network and Soneium could be considered to allow ACS contenders to discover dApp staking on Astar and its various dApps. This could potentially lead to increased traffic on Astar and lock additional tokens in dApp staking, while reducing liquidity bleed from Astar toward Soneium.
2. 70 days is too short to generate sufficient awareness of Soneium for 100M ASTR and should be extended to a 4 to 6 month campaign.
To provide enough time for the various blockchain communities to learn about and engage with the ACS campaign, a minimum duration of 4 months should be implemented. This timeframe would also allow users to become accustomed to Soneium and its 50+ dApps. It is also recommended that each month, emphasis be placed on a specific type of activity with a points multiplier, encouraging users to discover and use a wider variety of dApps, thereby increasing the chances of attracting and retaining users on Soneium.
3. The campaign budget should be divided into at least 2 to 3 campaigns to extend incentivized Soneium usageâs over a longer period, as this kind of budget will not be available again.
4. the DAO is not in favor of spending over $60,000 for a meme coin contest.
While the DAO understand that the current bull run revolves around the meme coin narrative, this is often a breeding ground for scammers. For 99.9% of them, the creators and very early adopters benefit while the majority incur losses. Yes, it generates transactions on the blockchain and brings some liquidity, but at which cost?
5. LFGM contenders who did not receive any rewards should be allocated a small compensation.
They dedicated their valuable time to stress testing Soneium and its dApps, completing over 40 daily quests over a 3-month period. Even if the team announced that LFGM was not an incentivized campaign with ASTR, their efforts deserve recognition and reward. It is through such unexpected actions from Astar that community cohesion and loyalty are fostered.
**FInal Note : **
While Astar Degen DAO community has enough voting power, if a proper conviction vote is used, to reverse the current AYE! vote, the DAO has decided to simply express its dissatisfaction with the current conditions of the ACS campaign and issue a warning this time.
The DAO recognize that ACS could be, if successful as envisioned by the Astar Core team, an opportunity, if not the last one, for the ASTR token to regain its full color. However, the campaign conditions, particularly points 1 and 2, MUST be amended.
5 Likes
First of all, thank you for your sincere consideration and detailed analysis of the ACS campaign.
Here are my thoughts on your opinions:
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There is no vesting period or split distribution, which may induce strong sell pressure.
What I feared the most was failing to attract users. Implementing a split distribution or vesting period might result in attracting fewer users and failing to âregain Astarâs full colorâ. The same applies to splitting rewards between Astar Network and Soneium, as it would reduce the overall attractiveness of the campaign. -
70 days is too short to generate sufficient awareness of Soneium for 100M ASTR and should be extended to a 4- to 6-month campaign.
The campaign duration is something we can discuss further. Do you have specific data supporting the idea that 70 days is insufficient while 4 months is adequate? We can adjust based on community sentiment, but data-backed reasoning would be helpful. -
The campaign budget should be divided into at least 2 to 3 campaigns to extend incentivized Soneium usage over a longer period, as this kind of budget will not be available again.
Dividing the campaign into 2 or 3 smaller ones with an extended period would make it less attractive and could result in failing to drive ASTR adoption in Soneium. -
The DAO is not in favor of spending over $60,000 on a meme coin contest.
I understand that some people have negative perceptions of meme coins, but meme culture is one of the most important aspects of the Web3 space. The meme contest not only generates transactions and brings liquidity but also helps cultivate a new degen culture within the Astar community, potentially attracting new users to the Astar collective. However, we can further discuss the allocation amount. -
LFGM contenders who did not receive any rewards should be allocated a small compensation.
It was previously announced that there would be no token incentives for the LFGM campaign. If we reconsider this, it would imply that we need to allocate a portion of the budget to every event Astar has held. I deeply appreciate the community for dedicating its membersâ valuable time, but itâs better to stick to the original announcement.
2 Likes
I completely agree with @Kai . What we should really focus on is how to maintain and sustain interest after the ACS campaign, not just during it.
What I mean is that the ACS campaign will almost certainly generate interest and activity around Soneium and $ASTRâif it is supported by a well-executed marketing strategy in parallel. Weâve seen this pattern before on almost every blockchain: launch campaigns with token airdrops always attract attention and put the spotlight on the chain.
However, what undoes all the effort and results is always the post-campaign phase. Too often, blockchains stop giving motivation for users to hold the tokens and actually use them in dApps to maximize profits and grow together with the ecosystem.
This is the real challenge. ACS alone will not bring the long-term results we want.
I also donât think that vesting the airdrop is the solution. Forcing users to keep their airdropped tokens locked (with vesting) doesnât create real motivation to stay loyal to the project. The real key is to give users strong reasons not to sell/swap their airdropped $ASTR, because those $ASTR tokens are valuable and provide real benefits when held and used on Soneium.
We need a Post-Campaign Strategy where:
Every dApp in the Soneium ecosystem creates value for using $ASTR, so that users have no motivation to swap it for ETH or USDCâbecause holding $ASTR on Soneium gives them more advantages.
Aggressive marketing campaigns that explain and showcase to the entire Ethereum user base the strong connection between SONEIUM and $ASTR, making it clear that:
Success of Soneium = Increase in $ASTR value.
Iâve participated in many airdrops across various Italian crypto groups. In every case, the biggest discussion was always:
âGuys, when the airdrop arrives, are you holding or selling?â
The answerâHOLD or SWAPâhas always depended on:
- The seriousness of the project
- The chainâs future plans
- The chainâs potential for success
If $ASTR was already recognized as the official token of SONEIUM, many of these issues wouldnât exist. A strong percentage of users would be highly motivated to hold it, knowing it is tied to the massive potential of Soneiumâs success.
Unfortunately, this is not yet our caseâ90% of users outside of the Astar ecosystem still donât understand the $ASTR/ASTAR and Soneium connection.
This is what we need to focus on. Making $ASTR the must-have token for operating within the Soneium ecosystem.
7 Likes
Regarding the discussion on the Meme campaign, I would like to point out that I am not well informed about what happened in the case of memecoins on Blast and therefore I do not rely on that example to make my assessments.
Having said that, I believe that the dynamic behind SONEFI meme launchpad is well structured and leads to a use case for $ASTR also in the meme sector in Soneium.
The meme sector is still very strong and moves the masses today (for now) and having $ASTR as a reference token in a Launchpad meme campaign on Soneium certainly brings visibility and use of the token. If we want to make $ASTR attractive as a go-to token on Soneium, we need to make sure that its usefulness is evident in every corner of Soneium and certainly the meme sector with a Meme contest is a must-have piece of the puzzle.
What I would like to convey is that every initiative that takes place on Soneium must contain $ASTR as its fundamental part, only in this way will the association $ASTR = Soneium token be established in the usersâ mentality. Since memes are one of the famous and strong sectors (until now), it is right that they exist in Soneium and that if there is an initiative in this sector, $ASTR is at the center of it as a reference token.
If there are ideas to improve this type of campaign even more and make it even more impactful and at the same time safe from negative effects, I think this is the right place to start talking about it and structure improvements together.
3 Likes
I do not understand your reasoning on this matter. Why would vesting or split distribution discourage users from participating if we expect this campaign to be successful? Itâs not as if their rewards would be canceled if they donât receive them all at once. Furthermore, implementing measures to lower sell pressure would demonstrate a long-term vision, which would reassure both current and potential new long-term holders.
Those who might be discouraged to participate because of this would likely be the airdrop farmers who only seek immediate profitâi.e., the very users who will dump their rewards and leave Soneium with their liquidity as soon as the campaign is over. These are actually the users we donât want to attract unless we are only seeking fake adoption and inflated TVL statistics.
So, in our opinion, it would actually be counterproductive to attract those individuals.
We do not have data backing this 4-month duration but have relied on our âcommon senseâ for this decision. Astar and Soneium still have a limited community, so word-of-mouth will take some time to reach the critical mass needed to generate interest from large user communities. However, the campaign may already be well advanced by the time this step occurs, which could discourage many people from joining, as they wonât be able to accumulate a significant number of points and, consequently, rewards.
A 4-month campaign, which is still very short compared to most Layer 2 bootstrapping campaigns, would definitely provide enough time to reach this critical mass of users while the campaign is still early enough to attract new participants. It would also give users more time to explore and engage with the approximately 50 dApps on Soneium, which we believe is one of the main targets of such a campaign.
On the other hand, we would also be interested in understanding the data behind the decision to limit the campaign to only 70 days (2.5 months).
It is indeed a risk, but it would demonstrate that there is a long-term plan and vision in place, and that marketing efforts wonât cease once this campaign is over. Additionally, the split does not necessarily have to be equal; it could be a 70/30 or 60/40 split, for instance.
Thereâs no such implication. This is merely a gesture of good faith and goodwill toward the people who dedicated their time to help Astar and Soneium. This gesture aims to strengthen and reinforce the current community, which is just as important as attracting new LT users, as they will definitely consider how we have treated their predecessors.
2 Likes
Fully aligned with you.
With ACS, most Soneium dApps will adopt $ASTR. This will satisfy the first point you mentioned:
Every dApp in the Soneium ecosystem creates value for using $ASTR, so that users have no motivation to swap it for ETH or USDC
We definitely need to establish strategies for the second point:
Aggressive marketing campaigns that explain and showcase to the entire Ethereum user base the strong connection between SONEIUM and $ASTR , making it clear that: Success of Soneium = Increase in $ASTR value.
Thank you for your sincere comments.
3 Likes