Believe's Blueprint: Social Genesis in the Age of Internet Capital Markets

By Matthew Mousa, Director Strategy & Research

May 15, 2025

The clamor around early-stage crypto projects often feel like a distant roar for institutional participants. Deals are struck behind closed doors, access is often limited, and by the time a token hits a major exchange, much of the alpha has been captured. But a new platform, Believe, is attempting to disrupt this familiar landscape by turning the chaotic energy of social media into a primary engine for token launches and, crucially, immediate liquidity.

Believe, which rebranded from Clout earlier this year, has set its sights on the Solana ecosystem, leveraging the speed and low cost of the network to facilitate rapid token creation and distribution. The platform is the brainchild of Ben Pasternak, an entrepreneur with a history of building consumer internet products. His pivot into the Web3 space with Believe represents a fascinating evolution, applying lessons learned from viral social applications to the realm of decentralized finance and capital formation. The core idea is strikingly simple: project creators can launch a Solana-based token by merely posting about it on X and tagging @launchacoin with the desired ticker and name. This social genesis is a significant departure from the more structured, and often gated, processes seen on traditional launchpads.

The native token of this ecosystem, LAUNCHCOIN, has seen significant volatility and attention recently, at one point rallying hundreds of percent in a single day. Formerly known as PASTERNAK, named after the founder, LAUNCHCOIN's performance is intrinsically linked to the activity and growth on the Believe platform. As more projects launch and gain traction through social virality, the demand and utility for LAUNCHCOIN within the ecosystem could theoretically increase. This dynamic creates a direct feedback loop between social attention, platform usage, and token value.

While much of the early activity on platforms like Believe and its type is undeniably driven by speculative fervor, particularly in the meme coin arena, the underlying mechanism introduces a powerful new concept: internet capital markets. This paradigm fundamentally changes the way we think about funding and liquidity for startups, offering a direct challenge to the traditional venture capital model. In the VC world, a select group of accredited investors provides capital in exchange for equity, with liquidity events typically occurring years down the line through acquisitions or IPOs. It's a high-friction, low-liquidity environment for the vast majority.

Internet capital markets, as exemplified by platforms like Believe, propose an alternative. They allow any builder with an idea to tokenize their project and access a global pool of potential investors directly and instantly. The "market" isn't a gathering of traditional venture capital partners making decisions in boardrooms, but the aggregated attention and conviction of individuals across the internet. The liquidity isn't tied to a distant exit but is present from the moment the token is created, facilitated by bonding curves on decentralized exchanges. This creates a continuous price discovery mechanism driven by real-time demand and sentiment.

Beyond the notable launch of NOODLE, a token powering a Web3 game that gained swift traction, Believe has seen a variety of tokens emerge. While many fall squarely into the meme coin category, their proliferation demonstrates the platform's effectiveness in enabling rapid experimentation and community bootstrapping. The low technical barrier and reliance on social distribution mean that even niche ideas can quickly find an audience and, potentially, funding. This contrasts sharply with the lengthy due diligence and gatekeeping inherent in traditional venture funding.

*Noodle Video Game screenshot from Decrypt*

Comparing Believe to platforms like pump.fun reveals a shared philosophy of lowering the barrier to entry for token creation, particularly within the Solana ecosystem. Both platforms enable rapid launches and rely on bonding curves to provide instant liquidity. However, Believe's explicit integration with X as the primary launch mechanism adds a unique social layer, deeply embedding the fundraising process within existing online communities. While pump.fun has become a go-to for pure speculative meme coin launches, Believe appears to be positioning itself, at least in part, as a launchpad for projects that may have some underlying utility or game, even if the initial traction is driven by social hype.

For us, as participants in the institutional crypto markets, Believe presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The rapid, socially-driven nature of launches means that identifying promising projects requires constant monitoring of platforms like X and a deep understanding of online community dynamics – a far cry from analyzing pitch decks and tokenomics whitepapers in a boardroom. The volatility inherent in these socially fueled tokens also necessitate a robust risk management framework.

However, the innovation lies in the potential for price discovery and liquidity formation at the earliest possible stage. If Believe can mature into a platform that consistently launches projects with genuine utility and a committed community, it could become a valuable, although unconventional, source of early-stage opportunities. The key will be discerning the signal from the noise – identifying projects with sustainable models beyond initial speculative fervor. The success of tokens like NOODLE and the diversity of projects launching on the platform will be closely watched as indicators of whether Believe can indeed foster more than just fleeting social phenomena and truly pave the way for a new form of internet-native capital markets.

The Believe launchpad, with its reliance on social media for origination and its promise of instant liquidity, is a vivid illustration of how decentralized finance continues to experiment with and redefine traditional financial processes. It's a high-speed, high-volatility environment, undoubtedly. But for those willing to navigate the currents of social sentiment and on-chain activity, it might just offer a glimpse into the future of early-stage capital formation and liquid markets, challenging the long-held dominance of the traditional VC-funded startup paradigm.

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Matthew Mousa is Director of Strategy and Research at Alpha Transform Holdings, where he drives insights at the intersection of blockchain, crypto, and AI. He’s also the host of the Alpha Liquid Podcast, spotlighting innovators and trends shaping the digital asset landscape. With a background in investment banking and portfolio valuation, Mousa brings a sharp, strategic lens to emerging technologies and market dynamics. Follow Mousa on X and LinkedIn.

Believe's Blueprint: Social Genesis in the Age of Internet Capital Markets

By Matthew Mousa, Director Strategy & Research

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