<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write('<div id="oa_widget"></div>');
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.openaire.eu/index.php?option=com_openaire&view=widget&format=raw&projectId=undefined&type=result"></script>');
-->
</script>
Cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and more recently meme coins have emerged as significant assets in the digital economy. Yet their value is often, rightly or understandably, regarded as purely speculative. We initially propose and demonstrate an extension of the traditional Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism, employing two strictly sequential, highly correlated, perceptually significant PoWs to establish reproduction-cost-based inherent value in native, tokenizable blockchain assets. A proof of concept is implemented on the Ethereum blockchain as an NFT collection 0xBadFace with contract address 0xBadFace1EaDA67F194fd202E48E5B2Ca2203c3e2 created by a smart contract with address 0xBadFace1AA3AbB02cb2Ce3c11F4EA3B9d428F676. The current (as of August 2025) estimated inherent value of such an asset is between 0.5 and 2.8~USD. The estimated required energy input is about 2.8 kWh. We explore how this concept may be extended to the creation and initial distribution of a new class of digital currencies, discovered through a global, coordinated, yet decentralized search for high-value public cryptographic artifacts — tokenized, exceptionally rare, culturally significant memes embedded in PoWs on blockchains.
citations This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |