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Words: Mario @IOSG TL; DR: Internet Capital Markets (ICM) is a crypto-native alternative to traditional capital markets (TCM) that allows entrepreneurs to raise funds directly from the online community through tokenization, bypassing red tape such as venture capital and initial public offerings (IPOs). Platforms such as the Believe App (formerly Clout) are spearheading this revolution on the Solana chain, allowing users to easily launch and invest in projects even by simply @平台 on X (formerly Twitter). Despite the criticisms such as lack of regulation, low barriers to entry, and the tendency to issue misleading tokens, ICM has strong potential for mass adoption, especially in promoting Web3 to Web2 users through a clean user experience, fiat payment on-ramp, and viral narrative. To achieve long-term growth, platforms like Believe need to move beyond the short-term hype to drive founder accountability, optimize the token economic model, build DAO governance, and deliver real utility to truly transform ICM from a meme boom to a new paradigm of capital formation. Background of traditional capital markets In traditional capital markets (TCM), entrepreneurs often rely on expensive and time-consuming financing methods, such as initial public offerings (IPOs) or venture capital. This approach presents its own challenges. From a fundan's perspective, entrepreneurs have to deal with lengthy application processes, complex legal formalities, and constantly pandering to investor preferences, which often distracts them from focusing on product development or community building. From the perspective of investors, the early investment opportunities are basically monopolized by large institutions, such as hedge funds and mutual funds. Ordinary investors have little to no share, and often wait for project valuations to skyrocket before entering the market. Not only is this model inefficient and unopen, but it also leads to a significant misalignment of incentives between creators and supporters. These structural issues reflect the urgent need for a more open, direct and participatory approach to financing, which is at the heart of what the Internet Capital Markets (ICM) seeks to address. Figure 1: Cost comparison of direct listings (Adapted from Lily Liu, TOKEN2049 Dubai 2025)[1] Direct listing is a more cost-effective way to raise funds that skips the expensive and time-consuming intermediary process of the traditional fundraising process and opens up new options for entrepreneurs. Internet Capital Markets (ICM) is similar in many ways to a direct listing, but theoretically has more advantages because entrepreneurs are financed directly through the blockchain. What is ICM ICM is a new narrative in the crypto industry. It allows entrepreneurs to raise funds for their products directly through the Internet, without going through the cumbersome process in the traditional capital market, and can simply tokenize their ideas and get immediate support from investors. Unlike traditional markets, where investors' shares are usually held in custody by banks or brokers, the ICM model allows investors to hold their own tokens directly through a self-custody wallet, taking full ownership and liquidity of the assets. This approach not only significantly lowers the threshold for ordinary people to participate in investment, but also allows project parties to obtain start-up capital more efficiently. The current state of the ICM ecosystem It's important to note that the concept of ICM isn't just an experimental attempt at a product narrative, it's very much in line with Solana's own strategic direction. According to a market memo published by the Solana Foundation on November 27, 2024 [19], the Foundation has set out a vision of building an "Internet-native version of Nasdaq" where anyone with a wallet and internet connection can participate in the capital markets. The memorandum paints a picture of a future where financial assets such as stocks, real estate, and cultural tokens can be freely acquired and traded by anyone at any time through a globally shared blockchain ledger, removing many of the barriers and restrictions that exist in traditional finance. The current leader in the ICM ecosystem is the Believe App (formerly Clout) on Solana. This platform allows founders to post their tokens directly by @ an account on X (formerly Twitter). It seeks to disrupt the traditional venture capital model and provide a decentralized, community-driven alternative that puts creators and entrepreneurs in the driver's seat. Figure 2: Flowchart of the LaunchCoin token economic model (Adapted from @ManoppoMarco, X, 2025)[2] Figure 3: LaunchCoin price timeline (with author's notes), Screenshot source: Dexscreener [3] It all started with Web2 entrepreneur Ben Pasternak, Forbes' Under 30 list. He released his token $Pasternak [14] through the Clout platform in January of this year, and its market capitalization soared to about $77 million at one point, but due to technical issues – the token could not "graduate" even if the conditions were met – the project eventually collapsed. [15] In late April, the platform was officially renamed from Clout to Believe, and its core focus shifted from "Personal" to "Ideas & Projects", truly moving in the direction of ICM. $Pasternak was phased out, and the platform launched a new core token $launchcoin. The platform's development quickly gained traction after being retweeted by well-known founders such as Nikita Bier and Solana co-founder Toly. Subsequently, the tokens of several projects, such as $GOON and $NOODLE, were successful on Believe and achieved high market caps, and this virality and user growth pushed the overall market value of the platform to $314 million at one point. [16] Clanker vs. Believe: Why Believe is more successful Clanker is another token distribution platform that also allows users to create their own tokens through social media interactions, primarily by tweeting or using Farcaster, a type of Web3 Twitter. While Clanker and Believe may seem similar in terms of "distribution methods", Believe has several distinct advantages in terms of user experience, narrative structure, and growth potential that make it stand out from the crowd. Ecological impacts As you can see from the chart below, the Solana chain far surpasses the Base chain in terms of trading volume and number of active traders, which provides greater momentum for Believe's expansion. In addition, the support of the Alliance DAO, as well as the retweets of Nikita Bier and Toly, further accelerated its growth. Figure 4: Solana on-chain meme coin trading indicator (Source: Cointoshi, Dune Analytics) [4] Figure 5: Comparison of the number of tokens issued per day: Clanker vs. Pump Fun (Source: Clanker Protection Team, Dune Analytics) [5] User experience Figure 6: User Rifqi Saputra (@denyosapone) publishes token issuance information on X via Clanker (2025) [6] Figure 7: Showcase posted by user Pata van Goon (@basedalexandoor) via Believe (2025) [7] As we can see, it is much simpler to issue on Believe - users only need to fill in a token short name and @Believe on X; On Clanker, additional information is required, such as name, icon, etc. In addition to this, Believe's user interface is more intuitive and concise. They have also developed a mobile app and have launched the App Store, where users can buy token assets directly through their wallets or credit cards. Clanker, on the other hand, is currently only web-based and can only be purchased using wallets, similar to traditional Web3 launchpads. Figure 8: The Believe app interface, showing the list of tokens and payment methods (2025) [8] Although Clanker simplifies the "selling" part of the token issuance process, users still need certain Web3 knowledge when purchasing, such as how to connect wallets, how to add them on the Base blockchain, etc. Believe, on the other hand, allows users to issue and purchase tokens without any knowledge of Web3. You can issue directly through Twitter and make purchases using a credit card or Apple Pay. This has significantly lowered the barrier to entry and attracted a large number of Web2 users into the Web3 world. For example, Web2 entrepreneur Alex Leiman, who develops slither.io Web3 game noodle.gg, chose to issue his new token $noodle on Believe [9]. Narrative vs. Vision: What Differentiates ICM from Meme Platforms Believe was one of the first projects to come up with an "Internet Capital Markets (ICM)" narrative, which emphasizes the issuance of real ideas and projects to support their development, rather than just hyping memes with no real value. This higher-level vision is more likely to resonate with the community and attract users who want to participate in meaningful building and pursue long-term value. In contrast, Clanker is more of a meme distribution platform focused on short-term speculation and trading. It lacks a clear narrative direction and no long-term development vision, so its appeal is limited to "short-term players", and it is difficult to build lasting user stickiness and ecological construction. Why ICM might also be just another wave of meme hype The idea behind ICM is really fascinating. However, there is always a trade-off between efficiency and safety. While you save time and thresholds, you inevitably sacrifice some of the protection mechanisms. The founders do not have to commit to any responsibility Unlike traditional capital markets, traditional projects typically require rigorous roadshows, due diligence, and regulatory approvals before going through an IPO. In ICM, founders only need to @Believe on the official Twitter account to easily post their tokens. But here's the problem: the founders don't have any delivery commitments or legal obligations, and there's no safeguards to ensure they deliver on their original goals. This lack of accountability is worrying, especially in reality, and there have even been cases where some "presidential" accounts have forwarded the contract address of a certain token, but later deleted the post or dissociated themselves on the grounds that the account was hacked. This also reveals the significant risks of the ICM model in an open but unregulated state. Figure 9: Clout's official published guideline emphasizing that tokens must be used in non-security scenarios (2025) [10] According to LaunchCoin's official guidelines, in order to avoid the token itself being classified as a security or investment product, the platform has very strict legal compliance requirements. For example, tokens must not represent equity and must not imply any form of return on earnings. They should be designed to be more like digital memorabilia that allows supporters to show their support for the project, rather than a security that generates revenue, dividends, or profit-sharing. This also reveals a key problem: there is a huge disconnect between the token itself and the underlying project. According to the guidelines, tokens are very similar in nature to meme coins - they have no practical purpose, and exist more as a symbol of "supporting a certain founder". While it is true that this approach can help project owners raise funds and move the project forward, many investors may mistakenly believe that they are participating in a quality early-stage investment opportunity. Many people think of themselves as angel investors helping struggling entrepreneurs, but the truth is that these tokens don't promise any returns, nor do they have any guarantees. Misused narratives Figure 10: Market statistics for the Believe ecosystem, including tokens by market capitalization, trading volume, and 24-hour change (2025) [11] Looking at current market data, ICM's original vision was to support founders and their projects, but it is now being clearly abused. Among the top three project tokens on the platform by market capitalization, two are essentially meme coins. ICM was originally meant to empower truly creative builders, but the situation is ironic: many people are still creating rounds of meme craze by borrowing the narrative wrapper of "supporting projects". These meaningless tokens are more popular and well-known than projects that really need financial support [17] What's next for ICM At present, the issuance of tokens on Believe is zero cost for founders, but its market performance is highly dependent on the continuous advancement of the project itself. In order to motivate founders to keep the project updated and keep the community interested in it, Believe should consider optimizing the existing tokenomics. For example, a penalty mechanism can be set up through smart contracts: if the founder does not update the project for a long time or is in a state of "missing contact", they will not be able to claim the transaction fee income. In addition, it is necessary to establish a DAO mechanism that allows the community to have voting rights and project feedback rights, so as to increase transparency and accountability of the founding team. Fundamentally, I think ICM is not just a short-term meme hype, it does have more potential, but only if there are clearer rules and a more mature ecosystem to support development. ICM's philosophy reminds me of TON's rollout path – TON has successfully brought a large number of Web2 users into the Web3 world with the help of the Telegram platform. Currently, all crypto assets combined account for only about 0.56% of the world's total monetary stock [18]. If you want Web3 to be truly ubiquitous, you have to provide a simpler and more intuitive way to use it. The true value of ICM is its ability to attract and convert a large number of Web2 users without requiring them to have in-depth Web3 knowledge. While Believe is currently seen as just another meme-style distribution platform, it is growing rapidly, grabbing market share on the Solana chain that was previously dominated by established platforms like Pump Fun. By diluting Pump Fun's monopoly position, the selling pressure on Solana was also eased. In the past, Pump Fun was in an almost monopolistic position as a token issuance platform and was free to trade with $SOL, and users were also forced to use it only as their primary option. Now, the rise of Believe has disrupted that, giving retail investors more competitive options and reducing the liquidity risk posed by centralized platforms [17]. Figure 11: Solana's daily active address market share by token issuance platform, compared to BelieveApp and competitors such as PumpFun and LetsBonk (2025) [12] In the short term, if Believe can continue to compete with other traditional token issuance platforms, the ICM narrative is likely to remain for a long time, as achieving mass adoption of Web3 is always the ultimate goal of the ecosystem. But if it wants to truly gain a foothold and not become a short-lived hype platform like Clanker, Believe must further strengthen and expand its unique positioning: not just as a distribution tool, but as a platform for project incubation and real value creation. Figure 12: Let'sBonk ($BONK) price chart showing its initial spike and subsequent movements based solely on the "narrative" (2025) [13] This means that ICM must build deeper practical value around the concept of "Internet capital market". Specifically, you can start from the following directions: Promote meaningful community governance mechanisms (DAOs) Establish a system in which the founders are continuously responsible Integrate projects with real-world application scenarios to attract a wider range of mainstream users. If it doesn't evolve in this direction, Believe risks being seen by the market as just another meme platform and ultimately losing momentum for long-term growth. To truly make a lasting impact, Believe must be more than just a launch platform for meme coins, but an innovation platform that inspires ideas, drives projects, connects people, and democratizes Web3.