Avalanche Foundation launches Memecoin Rush, injecting $1m into ecosystem

The Avalanche Foundation kicked off phase one of Memecoin Rush, a $1 million liquidity mining incentive program to catalyze the community coin ecosystem on the Avalanche (AVAX) blockchain. 

This initiative, announced in a blog post, will begin with SteakHut and Trader Joe — two prominent platforms native to Avalanche — to incentivize trading and provide liquidity for selected community tokens. Among these are Kimbo (KIMBO), Gecko Inu (GEC), Coq Inu (COQ), TECH, and NOCHILL. 

SteakHut, known for its active liquidity management and decentralized market making, will offer rewards across various trading pairs through the Uniswap V3 liquidity mining program for COQ, NOCHILL, TECH, and KIMBO.

Trader Joe will offer incentives through single-sided, time-locked staking vaults tailored to specific tokens based on holder and market cap criteria.

Participants stand to earn points by staking into pools, with rewards distributed in AVAX and community coins like COQ and KIMBO at the end of a specific period.

Avalanche Foundation acquires community coins

The launch of the first phase of Memecoin Rush follows hot on the heels of the Avalanche Foundation’s recent acquisition spree of community coins, spurred by the introduction of an eligibility framework for supported tokens. 

A substantial portion of the Foundation’s $100 million NFT incubator fund has been earmarked for purchasing these tokens, with criteria including positive social sentiment, significant holders, liquidity, and project maturity being key factors in the selection process.

Eric Kang, BD Manager at Ava Labs, emphasized the significance of meme coins within the web3 space.

“Memecoins have become a cornerstone of Web3, representing the uniqueness and interests of diverse crypto communities,” Kang said.

Memecoin Rush, he added, will serve as a platform for users to explore the diversity of defi protocols native to Avalanche and engage with vibrant communities at the forefront of cultural expression on the platform.

By incentivizing liquidity provision and active participation, Memecoin Rush aims to foster broader support and adoption for Avalanche-native tokens.

Users can add liquidity to meme coin pairs on SteakHut to join the rush or stake in meme vaults on Trader Joe.