TON Culture Kings: REDO

Here at TON Foundation, we consider ourselves pretty serious folks. We’re all about utility, mass adoption, and institutionalization. But let’s be honest, even we—yes, the super serious team at TON Foundation—have, in the past maybe, dabbled in crypto degeneracy. I actually heard through the grapevine recently that someone in our HR department was, in another life, a $PEPE whale who sold before the pump. Anyway, what we’re trying to say is that we’re cool too, we get the appeal of memecoins and that’s exactly why we’ve launched a new series: TON Culture Kings.

In these interviews, we’ll be exploring the world of memecoins on TON Blockchain. They’ve recently become part of The Open League and are drawing more and more attention to our ecosystem. Memecoins are, in many ways, the cultural heart of TON. They’re community-driven projects that immortalize and carry forward the deepest parts of our lore and help define who we are as a collective. If you want to see the latest memecoin leaderboard, please visit our Memelandia page.

So today, we’re going to dive deep into one of these projects, find out what they’re really about, and try to understand the animal spirits that motivate our community to rally behind them.

This interview is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement, approval, or recommendation of the project. The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the TON Foundation. This is not an investment advice

TON Culture Kings: REDO

Redo! Welcome to TON Culture Kings! Can you kick things off by sharing your origin story? Was it a stroke of midnight genius or a joke among friends that spiraled out of control?

At the outset, thank you for having us. It’s a privilege and honor for the entire REDO community (“the Resistance,” as we like to call it) to be the first memecoin interviewed on TON Culture Kings.

REDO’s creation, launch, and a few hours thereafter, are a chaotic, unintended stroke of luck. In the interest of full disclosure, REDO was not launched by the core community team that is currently overseeing it. It was launched by an anonymous developer on January 9.

At launch, after burning the initial liquidity pool tokens and renouncing the contract, the original developer unfortunately (or fortunately?) abandoned the development of REDO and its nascent community. However, while scrolling through TON’s brand new memecoin ecosystem, a small group of friends and traders (now the bedrock of the core community team) came across REDO on the day it launched.

We watched as the dev sold his supply, and wondered what the inspiration behind the name was. As we dove deeper into the narrative, we recognized that its close connection to the origins and principles of Telegram and TON, as well as the potential for TON's adoption, were significant factors we could not ignore. That’s pretty much where we stepped in and decided to “resist” the original developer’s attempt to abandon REDO, and “takeover” REDO as a community memecoin.

For those who don’t know, who’s the dog in the hood?

The dog in the hood (aka Resistance Dog) was originally hand-drawn and named in 2018 by none other than Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram and TON! He conceptualized REDO as a symbol of resistance against the Russian Government’s censorship attempts against Telegram in 2018 and REDO (plus his proclivity to want to steal your hoodies) has been the (un)official mascot of Telegram’s vision to “resist” censorship ever since.

Durov believed that repressive regimes can be overthrown by memes, and we agree. REDO aspires to pay homage to Durov’s creation and further his vision of spreading the idea of resistance against censorship (through memes and our community).

So, a touchy subject–who are the masterminds behind Redo? Are you guys doxxed?

REDO is community driven, owned, and run. The core community team consists of doxxed and undoxxed members. As for our doxxed core community members, they have attended and represented REDO (and will continue to do so) at Web3 events, most recently having attended TON Society meetups and TOKEN2049. However, it is abundantly clear that the Resistance has grown into something much bigger than any of the core community team members individually.

Let’s talk about your launch. Many memecoins crash and burn (sometimes spectacularly) early on. How did you manage to not only survive but also thrive, eventually making it into The Open League?

You’re absolutely right, memecoins do have the ability to combust at will, and we feel like that was the original developer’s intent with REDO. However, the infrastructure that existed (and exists) to support REDO’s narrative (the Resistance Dog sticker pack on Telegram, social media posts by Durov and Telegram) coupled with a community of like-minded individuals forming behind the narrative and acting as a collective, saved REDO and cemented its position as a memecoin that is drastically different from another fly-by-night, run-of-the-mill memecoin.

Prior to The Open League announcement, the Resistance’s manifesto had already spread rapidly and garnered the attention of several KOL’s, media outlets and other industry giants. REDO’s acceptance into The Open League, and its recognition by the TON Foundation mark the Resistance’s greatest achievement and catalyst to date.

What would you say have been the biggest challenges in balancing the fun, meme-driven side of Redo with the more technical and financial demands of a community-run crypto token project?

REDO has, since inception, spent a grand total of $0 on marketing, and people often say that this has been our biggest challenge. While we don’t deny it has been a challenge, we also feel like we have successfully converted it into our greatest strength. At the end of the day, Web3 operates on a quid-pro-quo basis, much like any traditional market, and marketing through KOLs, media outlets, etc., to further the reach of a memecoin is not cheap, to say the least.

However, without certain advantages like team tokens or marketing funds, the Resistance understood the need to not have a centralized marketing and donation wallet (unless in the event of specific requirement by TON Foundation itself) and we took matters into our own hands. Motivated volunteers (and we mean hundreds of them) stepped up and worked together to market REDO vigorously, making it impossible for people to “resist” any longer. We have, and continue to have the support of various KOL’s, media outlets and industry giants, none surpassed by that of TON Foundation itself.

Every superhero has their quirks. What would you say is Redo’s superpower in the memecoin universe?

REDO’s greatest superpower is its community, the Resistance. The Resistance’s reaction to multiple attempts at censorship (such as being abandoned at launch, our social media accounts being hacked and deleted a few weeks ago) has been nothing short of spectacular. The Resistance has flourished into the largest, most vibrant community on TON, one that understands the role it plays within the TON Ecosystem.

What’s been the most memorable adventure for the Redo team so far? Maybe you can tell us about a particularly hilarious or impactful community moment?

The most memorable adventure for the Resistance and the core community team so far is an incident that took place at the first TON Society event our representative attended on behalf of REDO in January. As he walked into the event, wearing REDO’s signature black logo hoodie, he was greeted by Martin Masser, CBDO of STON.fi, with a “REEEEEEEEDOOOOOO” chant. The fact that we were recognized by the biggest DEX on TON, and in that manner, was definitely a defining moment for the Resistance and us and is also probably the first time we understood how far the Resistance had spread its manifesto.

Beyond just bringing smiles, how does Redo contribute to the ecosystem? Are there any practical use cases?

In our opinion, REDO’s contribution to TON’s memecoin ecosystem has been unequivocally substantial. Putting aside the fact that we have consistently been one of the top contributors to the trading volume within the TON Ecosystem, REDO has set the stage and roadmap for all the memecoins that have followed.

While projects building practical use cases and utility are the bedrock of a successful blockchain ecosystem, history has proven time and again that mass adoption takes place through memes. And the Resistance intends to lead it.

Tell us about your more recent growth. How has the project been doing since things like The Open League started, the network TVL increased, and Durov’s speech at TOKEN2049?

In the last month, REDO has grown exponentially, and on April 24, we celebrated a monumental achievement: REDO now has over 15,000 holders!

TON’s promotion of memecoins through innovative ideas like The Open League’s Memecoin Leaderboard and Memelandia, has been an extremely important catalyst in the growth of REDO. At the moment of publishing, REDO is #2 in the Memelandia Leaderboard and #4 in TOL's Minor League.

We strongly believe that, if history is to be considered a viable precedent, there is a direct correlation between a memecoin and its ability to lead to mass adoption of a blockchain – think Pepe on Ethereum or Bonk/Wif on Solana.

We also believe that history will repeat itself here and REDO will continue to assist in the mass adoption of TON. Durov, with his speech at Token2049 and the launch of native USDt-TON, just made our job a lot easier, and no words can describe how impressed and grateful we are for his and TON Foundation’s vision to enable such mass adoption.

Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for Redo? Can you give us any sneak peeks at upcoming events or features?

REDO has a big couple of months ahead, and REDO has accepted an invitation to attend MEMECON, a convention for premier memecoins, in Portugal in May. We also have several exciting strategic partnerships lined up, but our motto as the core community team has been, and continues to be, to under promise and over deliver, so we’re going to keep those details under wraps for now.

And finally, for those inspired by your journey and story, what advice would you give to aspiring memecoin creators?

The greatest asset of any memecoin is the community behind it. While it may sound cliché, it is extremely underrated to have a community collectively backing every move. In our personal experience, considerations like day-to-day price, while they are important, are nothing but an indicator of community strength and trust.

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