Are People Backing the Wrong Fartcoin?

The hype surrounding Fartcoin on Solana has drawn attention, but it raises an important question: are people buying the right Fartcoin? The hype has pushed the coin to a market cap of over $2 billion when it reached its highest valuation, but the coin getting all the attention isn’t the original one.

The original Fartcoin, launched in January 2018, is on the Ethereum network. Created by Neel Rao, a former Google engineer, it has a fixed supply of just 1 million tokens. This coin gained renewed interest in late 2024 when crypto enthusiasts stumbled upon it, bringing Rao $400,000 in Ethereum. Unlike its Solana counterpart, this version is rooted in the fundamentals of scarcity and originality, qualities that are often overlooked in today’s crowded crypto market.

The discussion around originality in crypto isn’t new. Meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have built loyal communities over the years, even though Shiba Inu is sometimes viewed as a Dogecoin knockoff. Similarly, the debate extends to tokens like PEPE, which succeeded through strategic marketing but isn’t connected to the original Pepe meme, which led to the original PepeCoin. The trend highlights a larger issue in crypto: authenticity often takes a backseat to hype and well-funded promotion campaigns.

The rise of AI-generated tokens like the new Fartcoin adds another layer to this discussion. Many investors might wonder: what’s the appeal of a meme coin if it lacks creativity or community-driven origins? Memecoins like Dogecoin thrived because of their grassroots support, but AI-generated coins often feel impersonal, diluting the essence of what made meme coins popular in the first place.

As the crypto space becomes saturated with over 3.5 million tokens, discerning originality from imitation becomes increasingly vital. With misinformation and disinformation more prevalent than ever, and pump and dump scams ongoing daily, the need for transparency in crypto is crucial. People want to invest in authentic projects rather than derivatives or copycat tokens.

Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on Monday even weighed in on the importance of fundamentals in a hot market. He remarked:

Stick with fundamentals. Time will be on your side. A hot market may have many ‘opportunities’ or ‘quick returns.’ But it is best to stick with fundamentals.

In the case of Fartcoin, sticking to fundamentals might mean revisiting the original Ethereum-based version. With its scarcity and history, it stands apart from its Solana counterpart. For investors, it serves as a reminder to evaluate the authenticity and use cases of tokens rather than chasing the next viral coin. (Fartcoin’s unique “SendFart” feature lets users return a coin to the pool with a personalized message in the “fart log,” blending humor with community interaction.)

If you’re curious about joining the first and only Fartcoin community, the tokens can be traded on platforms like Dextools, Dexscreener, and Sushiswap while talks (and farting) take place on Discord, X, and Telegram.

To explore more about the project and its story, check out their official website at www.fartcoin2018.com.