Key Takeaways
- Thrust is a new Solana-based launchpad for influencer tokens.
- Retired rapper Iggy Azalea backs the project.
- Azalea and Thrust co-founder Jake Antifaev described their vision to CCN.
When Iggy Azalea launched Mother Iggy (MOTHER) in 2024, it raised more than a few eyebrows in the world of “serious” crypto.
However, the popstar-turned memecoin influencer was unfazed by criticism from the likes of Vitalik Buterin.
Now, more than a year after MOTHER’s viral breakout, Azalea is championing Thrust, a new Solana launchpad that could empower other celebrities to follow in her footsteps.
Iggy Azalea Backs New Token Launchpad
The basic premise of Azalia’s latest venture is simple.
Public figures (influencers, artists, etc.) can use the platform to launch their own token.
New projects are vetted, and Thrust handles payments, minting, and distribution.
Token issuers raise money from the initial presale and generate additional income from trading fees.
This model is intended to secure more consistent revenues for creators, Thrust co-founder Jake Antifaev told CCN.
But the platform also builds in protections for investors, he added.
Celebrity Endorsement Has a Bad Reputation
Over the years, celebrities have shilled all kinds of questionable crypto projects.
Logan Paul, Kim Kardashian, and Floyd Mayweather are among those who lent their endorsement to tokens that ultimately crashed and burned, often leaving fans to pick up the pieces.
“Celebrities have been happy to use their fans or crypto natives as their exit liquidity,” observed Azalea, who serves as Thrust’s Creative Director.
Criticizing the pump-and-dump mentality or many token projects, she suggested the vast majority of celebrity endorsements end up with some kind of rug pull.
To address this challenge, Thrust enforces legal contracts that bind token issuers to minimum lock-up periods or mandate specific deliverables.
If they want to get paid, influencers can’t just abandon projects and doom the tokens they endorse to irrelevance, Antifaev explained.
Curating Token Listings
By distancing their project from free-for-all launchpads like Pump.fun, Thrust’s founders may avoid some of the pitfalls that plague the scam-ridden memecoin market.
However, theirs is hardly the first crypto project that aims to substitute speculation and volatility for community engagement.
So-called “SocialFi” platforms that tried and failed to do something similar include Rally.io and Friend.tech, both of which have now been abandoned.
In Azalea’s view, while these platforms proposed interesting mechanics, they never truly managed to tap into the creator economy.
She may have a point.
For all its viral success, Friend.tech never broke out of the degen bubble, which has a notoriously short attention span.
And with the possible exception of NFL wide receiver Brandon Powell, Rally.io didn’t draw any big names in its five years of operation.
Emphasizing the ability to attract a higher calibre of celebrity and curate who gets to launch their token on the platform, Azalea compared Thrust to a record label.
“You’re only as good as your artists,” she said.
The first influencers onboarded to Thrust include the streamer N3ON and actress Megan Fox, with more launches expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Azalea also plans to migrate MOTHER to the platform later this year.
Celebrity Tokens: Real Utility or Another Scam?
Ultimately, platforms like Thrust require creators who can offer something to their fan base that will incentivize them to engage.
Some celebrities are attempting to break out of the memecoin mold.
Through a partnership with Unreal Mobile, Mother Iggy can be used to pay for monthly phone plans
Meanwhile, speaking to CCN, N3ON described his vision for a “reality TV type of thing” in which token-holders will be able to vote for participants to leave or stay on the show.
For influencer coins to succeed, they need to be more than a speculative asset.
There are already enough memecoins with zero utility vying for investors’ attention.
The difference between a viral hit and a sustainable movement is what comes after the launch.
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
