The recent changes made to the airdrop event of the new Polkadot-based memecoin DOT is DED (DED) have led to widespread criticism from the community following a reduction in the initial entitlements. Developer Giotto De Filippi announced at the X Spaces event on March 24 that the token supply for the initial airdrop event was reduced from 100% to just 5% in order to create a longer financial runway for the memecoin.
Growing Discontent with DED Airdrop Event
DED, following the launch of the memecoin project to capitalize on the memecoin frenzy among Polkadot community members and draw more attention to the Polkadot ecosystem, started trending on X on March 23. Investors holding Polkadot were entitled to receive 36 DED tokens for every 1 DOT they owned. Individual sentiment soured after the team reduced the initial airdrop entitlements. Cryptocurrency investor Orlando chose X to express his concerns in a post dated March 23, stating:
“Like everyone else, I am disappointed with how the DED situation unfolded. The treasury spent money, and many people recently bought and held DOT due to the excitement around this experimental DED memecoin. I hope the team finds ways to rectify these mistakes in the long run.”
According to data from the blockchain data analytics platform Dune, more than 85% of the DED airdrop supply has been claimed by over 1.3 million eligible addresses. Unlike other popular memecoin projects, DED’s airdrop supply has been frozen until future exchange listings to reduce selling pressure.
The Memecoin Craze Continues
The launch of the Polkadot-based token coincides with a period of increased individual interest in memecoin projects. Last week, Book of Meme (BOME) showed an increase of over 1,100% on the weekly chart, becoming the 130th largest token by market value.
BOME is part of a series of new memecoin projects that have raised money for yet-to-be-released coins through a controversial presale model. The presales for these Solana-based memecoin projects collected over 100 million dollars in Solana in the three days leading up to March 18. Other blockchain networks are also trying to capitalize on this frenzy. The Avalanche Foundation announced a $1 million liquidity mining incentive program for Avalanche-specific memecoins and community-owned tokens on March 21.
