Author: Luke, Mars Finance

Today, there is another golden dog on the chain, both of them speed up 70 million USD market capitalization. First, the late "father of anti-virus software" John McAfee's X account suddenly "resurrected", and a tweet promoting the Ainti token stirred the market. The widow Janice claimed that this was the product of "continuing her late husband's ideals", and the market value of the token reached US$70 million in four hours. At almost the same time, Rus Yusupov, the founder of Vine, the originator of short videos that had been silent for eight years, threw out a VINECOIN. Musk’s ambiguous statement of “considering restarting Vine” caused the token’s market value to exceed US$200 million within seven hours of its launch.

These two carnivals may seem unrelated, but they share the same underlying logic: using the names of the dead and old feelings to feed the speculative thirst of the crypto market. The real key to the magic box may be hidden in the power whirlpool in Washington.

1. McAfee’s “Cyber ​​Evocation”

John McAfee’s legacy is undergoing a bizarre “digital reincarnation.” The Ainti token promoted by the widow Janice Elizabeth McAfee through her late husband However, cracks in this "commemorative event" were quickly exposed under the microscope of netizens.

Crypto community user @cometcalls discovered that the word "honor" in Janice's tweet used the American style The spelling (rather than the British spelling "honour") is inconsistent with his past tweeting habits. This detail triggered speculation: "Either her account was hacked, or there is a team behind the scenes that controls the token project."

AI Puppet Show: From "Digital Freedom Fighters" to Code Puppet

The absurdity of the project came to a head with the X account named @AIntivirus. The account calls itself "the AI ​​incarnation of John McAfee", declares that it will "inherit his mission to defend digital freedom", and releases a cyberpunk-style manifesto:

"In a world of surveillance, corporate greed, and digital slavery, the AIntivirus token is the ultimate disruptor—a string of resistance code wrapped in cryptographic glory."

The account even provides a "Conversation with John" function, claiming to replicate McAfee's thinking model through AI. However, on-chain data shows that the technical implementation of this "AI incarnation" only relies on the default reply library, and its smart contract address (CA: BaezfVmia8UYLt4rst6PCU4dVL2s2qHzqn4wGhyrpKJW) does not show any on-chain records of interaction with the AI ​​model.

The separation between ideal and reality

Although Janice wore McAfee's iconic cowboy hat during the live broadcast and played a clip of his speech before his death, declaring that "Ainti is what he left to the world. "The fire", but the data on the chain reveals the other side:

Position concentration: the top ten addresses of Ainti tokens control 19.1% Supply, developer wallet permissions have not been given up (according to the security audit report);

Technology hollowing: the GitHub code base only updates 3 test files, the so-called "AI "Reproduction" is actually a static text reply;

Power monopoly: The audit shows that the token deployer address "RUSE4J" retains the right to freeze transactions, which is consistent with "decentralization" The promise goes against the grain.

Facing doubts, Janice responded with a poetic tweet: "For 17 years, the media has distorted John's true image, and now I will use his legacy to tell the story The truth." But netizen @_TamekaM's comments may be closer to reality: "In the encryption jungle, emotions cannot fill the wallet, only facts can save lives."

2. Vine "Cyber ​​Mummy": An on-chain carnival of nostalgic economy

Eight years ago, when Vine, the originator of short videos, quietly shut down its servers, no one expected that the company that had once been known as The platform whose 6-second loop videos are popular around the world will be "resurrected" in another form in 2025 - this time, its carrier is not a short video, but a token symbol on the blockchain.

From "6 Seconds Legend" to "Ghost on the Chain"

Vine emerged in 2012 with its revolutionary short video creativity, and became a cultural phenomenon after being acquired by Twitter. However, the monetization difficulties of content creators and the inability of algorithm recommendations eventually led to its demise in 2017. Today, eight years later, when Musk casually said "Consider restarting Vine" on the X platform (formerly Twitter), founder Rus Yusupov immediately grabbed this traffic straw.

On January 23, 2025, Rus announced the launch of VINECOIN on the X platform with a high profile, and attached a selfie video: "The account has not been stolen, this is Vine's New life." Just 3 hours after the token went online, the market value exceeded US$42 million, and the transaction volume soared to US$180 million. As of the publication of this article, the market value of VINECOIN has exceeded US$200 million.

The separation between promise and reality

Rus's promise is full of romanticism: "The developer tokens will be locked until April 20, and will continue to be locked until Vine truly returns. "But the data on the chain revealed another layer of reality:

The smart contract shows that the project party retains dynamic adjustment of 3%-15%. The authority of transaction taxes and fees is in sharp contrast with the slogan of "decentralized renaissance";

The white paper does not mention a word about Vine ecological reconstruction, and the tokens are currently It is said that it is just a Memecoin and has nothing to do with short video content;

Although Musk claimed to "consider restarting", the X platform has not released any technical solutions so far, even the video The storage servers were nowhere to be seen.

The essence of this “resurrection” is just like the metaphor of encryption analyst Nomos Labs: “VINECOIN is not rebuilding Vine, but casting its tombstone into NFT— —Investors are auctioning a digital memory, not a real product."

Risk warning of the nostalgia economy

This experiment exposed the deep flaws of the encryption market:

Technological hollowing out: Tokens have become financial derivatives of traffic and sentiment, rather than carriers of technological innovation;

Regulatory vacuum: Project parties use smart The contract retains control rights, butAvoiding responsibility in the name of "decentralization";

Abuse of collective memory: Vine's legacy is cut into tradable digital fragments, while the real creativity remains Wandering.

Perhaps as an anonymous developer left a message on GitHub: "We are not reviving Vine, but holding a luxurious event for it on the blockchain. Funeral - ticket price: $42 million ”

As for the future of VINECOIN, the biggest suspense is whether Musk’s “consideration” will always stay at the launch. Wenli?

3. “White House Certification” Coin Issuance Wave

Why do the narratives of VINECOIN and Ainti make everyone so FOMO? Perhaps the answer came from the corridors of power in Washington two days ago. On January 21, Trump accepted an exclusive interview with Fox Business. When faced with a reporter’s question about “the $TRUMP coin family cashed out more than 20 billion U.S. dollars,” he first raised his eyebrows and smiled: “ I don’t know much about crypto assets. This is just a small attempt by the team.” Then he raised his hand and turned the camera to the staff behind him: “Look at these excellent partners. Their company’s market value is much higher than mine.”

This response is a model of rhetoric:

Responsibility cutting: classifying token operations as "team behavior" ”, avoiding the direct connection between the presidential identity and financial interests;

Moral replacement method: using the grand narrative of "the United States needs to lead blockchain innovation" to cover up the family wallet The selling fact;

Regulatory maneuvering: Complete the token issuance before taking office to circumvent the constraints of the Presidential Asset Disclosure Act on serving officials.

The Wall Street Journal pointedly pointed out in an editorial: "Trump is converting capital into cryptographic tokens, which is more hidden and dangerous than traditional donations. ” Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton warned: “The president’s currency issuance has set a dangerous precedent – ​​it turns credit into a tool for private wealth-making.”

This currency issuance The wave is obviously tainted with the "White House certification" Tag, the president can be fooled even if he is issuing coins and harvesting it like crazy, why should I not issue coins if I have a good narrative?

But will it really be different this time?

Looking back at the coin issuance craze that swept Europe and the United States last year, its rise and fall trajectory is like that of the crypto market. Standard template:

Traffic god-making stage:

British singer Iggy Azalea’s $MOTHER Token, relying on daily encrypted podcasts to interact with fans, its market value exceeded US$5 billion in three days. Its Discord channel uses AI to generate virtual idols to answer questions in real time, creating the illusion of a "never-sleeping wealth community."

The moment of trust collapse:

When the price of $MOTHER halved, the team suddenly enabled smart contracts The "emergency freeze" authority in the stock market claims to "prevent malicious short selling", but in fact prevents retail investors from selling. On-chain records show that during the freezing period, the project wallet completed the final 30% liquidation of positions.

Return to zero final verification:

According to Dune Analytics statistics, celebrity tokens issued in 2024 Coin:

87% of projects have not completed any of the milestones promised in the white paper

Developers The average wallet return rate reaches 5400%, and the median loss rate for retail investors is 92%

76% of the token liquidity pools were drained after the crash, and the gas fee consumption exceeded the value of the token itself

The only "innovation" verified by this experiment is the exponential improvement in harvesting efficiency: Andrew Tate's $DADDY currency takes a commission from the preset multi-level distribution, and it only takes 11 days to complete the traditional financial market. Several years of capital transfer.

Conclusion: Rules of Survival in the New Cycle

Trump’s currency issuance has objectively torn apart the fragile veil of encryption supervision - when the Office of the President and the Blockchain Combined with the anonymity of the chain, more "compliance harvesting" models will flood into the chain.

Short-term risk map:

Plague of imitation disks: 23 "president-related coins" have been born after Trump's speech, with code similarity exceeding 90%

Regulatory arbitrage: The project team used the presidential endorsement to locate the server in Wyoming, where the "Crypto-Friendly Act" was newly passed

Ecotoxicity: $TRUMP currency transaction volume accounts for 70% of the Solana chain , other DeFi Protocol liquidity is almost exhausted

Long-term paradox:

Trump's " If the "Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Plan" is implemented, it may create a paradoxical dual reality:

Holding Bitcoin as a reserve asset will push up the value of mainstream currencies

Power groups use this to incorporate the encryption ecosystem into the traditional financial control system

Investors need to wake up: when the White House begins to cast an "officially certified" encryption narrative, The true spirit of decentralization may retreat to more fringe protocols. Those tokens that claim to "Make America Great Again" may be dragging the blockchain revolution back to Wall Street's old playbook.