CoinDesk Turns 10 – 2020: The Rise of the Meme Economy

Back in the heyday of 2021, Lachance told me that he considered the Doge to be the “modern Mona Lisa.” I took this as a joke. But Lashes is now making a sober and thoughtful case for memes as art -- modern-day Warhol. He notes that the first Grumpy Cat photo was shared by someone who had never posted before. They weren’t an influencer. They had no platform. They simply posted a photo that said “Meet Grumpy Cat;” overnight it had thousands of upvotes. “There’s this X factor when you see something, and it makes you react. It forces you to react. There’s no other choice in your soul than to react,” says Lashes, adding that there’s a “magic element to it.” This is the essence of art.