Let’s get this out of the way first – SNEK still has some way to go before even being in the position to challenge Hosky.
What is actually being challenged, I am not quite sure. But that seems to be the word on the street. And by street I mean Twitter.
This should be obvious to everyone, even to the new adepts of the masonic-themed meme coin.
However, selective ignorance is bliss when money is involved.
Of course, you can p-hack your way to the top.
But who are you fooling?
The Hosky
Unlike SNEK, Hosky has a proven track record – he’s been around for about 18 months and stayed consistent.
He used his coins to rally delegators to small pools, engage the community and he not-so-sneakily “doctored” the transaction volume – arguably, to Cardano’s benefit.
He's also producing educational content.
As old timers know, Cardano was a barren land before autumn 2021 - compared to what it is now.
When Hosky came on to the scene, it was madness. The concept hit and it hit hard.
The branding was on point and the messaging brutally honest – this is a shit coin, you will lose money if you buy it. Don’t buy this, this will go to zero.
Everyone went nuts and started buying it.
And the meme was born.
And the copycats followed. And none of them stuck.
A year and a half later and most of them are dead.
Only a few survived, and they are on life-support.
Meanwhile, Hosky thrives.
Why? Because it cut through the bullshit. Did not promise massive gains for the holders, unlike most others. I remember some coins were advertised as “investments” back then. Yikes!
The SNEK (and the frog)
Fast forward today and we are in the middle of a new meme frenzy, heavily amplified - arguably ignited - by the iconic pepe the frog meme.
I would guess dozens of shit coin launches happened on Cardano alone in the last month or so, but only one really took off - SNEK.
Why did it take off? The founder not taking “profits” minutes after launch might have had something to do with it.
The coin managed to rally a decent crowd. I meant decent-sized crowd. The decency of some of the people pushing it might come into question.
But then again, that is true of pretty much everything. That was also the case with Hosky early on. I am not hating here.
The good news is these people usually don't last.
The cherry on top was Mr. Hoskinson tweeting about the new coin. Check it out:
I’d bet some panties got wet when this happened. I mean, Charles Hoskinson is a BALLER.
The battle: Hosky vs SNEK
Overall community focus on one side versus temporary holder benefits on the other.
This is why I don’t see SNEK taking Hosky down anytime soon.
SNEK is a movement, while Hosky is a legend.
Hosky is using his shit coins to get people excited in Cardano. All the people, not just holders.
SNEK on the other hand seems to be more focused on rewarding the holders.
Just to clarify, I am not saying they (SNEKs) are not positively impacting the community – just that it doesn’t seem to be the main focus at the moment.
And that is somewhat understandable. To be able to mature you have to make sure people don’t start dumping the coins left and right – and sometimes, that needs incentives.
Luckily, the token appears to have passed the pump & dump stage and it doesn't seem to be slowing down.
Conclusion
Most people seem to agree that SNEK is here to stay. I can’t disagree with that.
And looking at what they’ve done so far, I think that’s going to be an overall plus for the chain. A little too early to push my chips in, but it looks promising.
As for the battle royale between the two – I really don’t see a reason for that to happen. As long as the main goal of community engagement is to give more than you take – there is plenty of room for everyone.
It just takes a little while to shake the “wen profits” and “what advantages for the holders” bros. They’re just dead weight in the grand scheme, if there is a grand scheme.
And I don’t know how you like your SNEKs, but I like mine fit and nimble. Shed the excess and move forward.
Finally, please, for the love of GOD, stop pretending that spamming shitty memes on Twitter to qualify for airdrops is equal to “onboarding” new users to Cardano.
Just stop.