In crypto, memes come and go, but Ponke is aiming for something more lasting. With its instantly recognizable mascot, a thriving community, and a growing lineup of physical merch and licensing deals, the team behind Ponke is building more than a token; they’re building a brand.

We spoke with the Ponke team about their approach to community building, what it takes to create original character IP in crypto, and how they're using digital collectibles and retail partnerships to bridge the gap between internet culture and everyday collectors. 

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

OpenSea: So let’s start with the origin story. What’s the backstory behind the Ponke brand and the token?

Ponke: Ponke is a token created by traders, for traders. In the Ponke lore, the character was born from the degenerate energy of the Solana memecoin casino.

We have this intro video that visualizes it: people are trading like maniacs, throwing away their life savings for the chance to make a dollar. That raw, chaotic energy builds up and bursts into the sky, where a beam of light crashes to Earth and spawns Ponke.

From day one, our mission was to empathize with the trading community. We wanted to create a mascot that really embodies their instincts, their humor, and their emotional rollercoaster. Ponke is that avatar. He looks like a meme because he is a meme.

People have pointed out the resemblance to Pepe the Frog, and yeah, that’s intentional. It creates an instant connection. The moment you see Ponke, you know the vibe. There's emotional resonance built into his design.

We knew if we wanted to build a lasting brand, we needed a character that was instantly recognizable and emotionally aligned with our audience. And clearly, we struck a nerve. The trading community loves Ponke. Our content consistently goes viral on Instagram, TikTok, and now YouTube. There’s something about the character that just clicks and that energy has fueled the entire project.

OpenSea: That’s really smart. You’re meeting people where they already are, and reflecting what they’re feeling, instead of trying to force them into a different mold. I think that’s very effective.

Ponke: Yeah, it brings a certain level of authenticity to what we’re creating. A lot of memecoins just co-opt existing memes and tokenize them. We wanted to give that same emotional resonance, but actually own and control the IP. You can’t build a lasting brand without owning the thing you're building on.

That ownership gives us the flexibility to expand into areas most memecoins can’t. You look at projects like Pudgy Penguins, Azuki, or Doodles — they’ve been able to evolve into full IP ecosystems. But most memecoins don’t own the rights to the meme they’re built on, so they’re limited. We’re not.

OpenSea: Right. Let’s keep going on that. You’ve touched on the character and why it resonates. What are the bigger plans with the IP?

Ponke: In May, we signed a global licensing deal with 223, which is a spinout of JCorp, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of licensed goods. They’ve worked with IPs like Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Naruto, Rick and Morty... the list goes on.

With 223, our plan is to develop collectibles aimed at adult collectors (think designer toys and streetwear), people who are into pop art figurines like Labubu or KAWS, or fashion brands like Supreme and Palace.

We’ve already got a high-quality apparel line, but 223 brings retail distribution relationships we could never access on our own. They’re giving us both creative flexibility and physical reach. The goal really is to build a bridge into crypto culture through these collectibles. So, with 223, everything that we sell will be chipped with an NFC chip that will link back to digital goods, digital collectibles, proof of ownership, rewards, and other tokenized items.

OpenSea: What’s your sense of the appetite for this type of culture from people outside of crypto?

Ponke: Yeah, we don’t really think of it as “crypto culture” broadly, we think of it as Ponke culture.

We were at the Las Vegas Licensing Expo in early June. Seventy-five percent of the show floor was focused on character IPs, not traditional brands. You had everything from Where’s Waldo? to Dragon Ball, One Piece, Snoopy, Shrek, He-Man, all of them with their own vibes and fanbases.

That’s the model we’re building toward. Our goal is for people to connect with Ponke as a character first. If they’re drawn in by the humor or by what Ponke represents, like the highs and lows of trading, then the crypto layer becomes a natural extension of that experience.

OpenSea: Right. It doesn’t feel forced.

Ponke: Exactly. Buying a Ponke plush or blind box collectible should feel totally intuitive. And the crypto side? That should be second nature. The idea isn’t to make people jump through hoops with wallets and keys and hardware. All they need is a phone to tap the NFC chip and access their digital goods.

OpenSea: What would you say is the biggest misconception about the memecoin space, especially for people outside of crypto, now that the broader landscape is shifting and regulation is changing?

Ponke: It's hard to explain. For us, memes represent the future of marketing. And we saw that firsthand in Vegas. People were interested in Ponke not because they cared about memecoins or crypto. They recognized the character as a meme. As something that already felt familiar, like a native part of online culture.

OpenSea: Right.

Ponke: Memecoin trading is really just trading on culture. You're putting capital behind whatever feels most important in a particular cultural moment. That’s why it's so volatile. It moves at the speed of the internet. What sets Ponke apart is that he endures.

One day, another meme might capture the internet’s heart, but then it fades just as quickly. Ponke, on the other hand, is built more like a Bart Simpson-type character. Ageless, timeless, able to meet any moment.

So when I talk to people about this space, I say: memecoins are the financialization of culture, and Ponke is the future of marketing. That’s where the real value lies. 

OpenSea: There’s always been a connection between finance and culture, but it’s never been this direct or this fast. Tools have evolved so much that brands can now be spun up around a single cultural moment.

Ponke: Exactly. And in some ways, that all started with NFTs. I first knew OpenSea from the 2021–2022 NFT boom. That moment paved the way for memecoins. Back then, NFTs were likened to collectibles like Beanie Babies, Pogs, Pokémon cards. Physical things people grew up with, but now made digital.

Memecoins are way more accessible. You can be part of the Ponke Army for 15 cents. Just one $PONKE token signals that you’re part of the movement. There are 555 million $PONKE tokens. There’s plenty to go around.

And I think the success of memecoins wouldn’t have been possible without the NFT era. That’s when people got used to expressing identity through digital assets. NFTs made that feel normal. And now memecoins are accelerating that shift, pushing it even further into the mainstream.

OpenSea: I see OpenSea’s role in that shift, especially now that we’ve expanded into token trading. It’s not just about being another place to buy tokens. We’ve already built a cultural hub through NFTs and now token trading can happen within that same ecosystem. 

Ponke: Yeah, absolutely. A marketplace isn’t just a place to transact. It’s where people hang out. Where their communities live.

What I always loved about OpenSea, personally, was the gallery view. The visual appeal of browsing an NFT collection. That’s what made collecting fun. Later on, other marketplaces tried to optimize for trading, shrinking the images and de-emphasizing the visual. But OpenSea’s broad gallery layout was unmatched.

OpenSea: Totally.

Ponke: That same philosophy carries over to OpenSea’s token pages. There’s attention to visual storytelling. That’s something not every memecoin has, but Ponke certainly does. We worked with your team to customize our page and bring it even closer to our brand. That makes it a great place to send people unlike DexTools or DexScreener, which are mostly charts, banners, and logos.

OpenSea: I obviously agree, but it means a lot to hear it from someone outside OpenSea. The team will really appreciate that. So we were just talking about community. I'd love to go deeper there. What role does the Ponke community play in your decision-making? How collaborative are you with them?

Ponke: The Ponke community, or what we call the Ponke Army, is absolutely essential to our success. Without them, I don’t think our content would go viral the way it has. At the end of the day, your community is your brand. They’re the ones who support you when your X account gets suspended. They help amplify your message. They’re your biggest advocates.

We’ve got three Telegram channels right now. There's our Ponke Announcements channel. From there, you can join our main chat, which has about 24,000 members. That’s the heart of the community where people share memes, market talk, Ponke stickers, and more.

Then there’s Club Ponke, which is our token-gated VIP chat. You access that through ponkeswap.xyz. You need to hold around 43,000 tokens to get in. That group offers more direct access to the team. It’s a place where we share alpha within reason and where we hear from serious holders.

OpenSea: Makes sense.

Ponke: Honestly, a lot of our content ideas come from the community. Some of our most viral reels started as community suggestions. We’ve got hundreds of GIFs on Tenor, and many of those are based on requests from holders, especially when they align with what’s happening in the broader market or a particular meta.

OpenSea: I’d love to hear what’s next. Are there any future plans or details about Ponke you can share?

Ponke: Yeah, absolutely. The global licensing partnership with 223 has opened a lot of doors for us. Coming out of the Las Vegas Licensing Expo, we’ve had all kinds of new contacts reach out. We’ve had people asking where Ponke might plug into their IP or retail strategy. We’re anticipating one to two brand partnership announcements before the end of the year, with some really exciting collabs lined up.

OpenSea: That’s great.

Ponke: I can’t share specifics just yet, but we’re definitely tuned into the blind box collectible craze. We’re also hoping to bring our apparel line back soon. We’re also excited about the Ponke Plush.

The plush is going to be a big moment for us. It’ll be available both online and through retail distribution. There’s also an online-exclusive version of the plush. We’ve got these Genesis NFTs called Ponke Day Ones on Telegram, and now we also have the Genesis Ponke Plush, which is only available online. Holders of either will get first access to future collabs.

OpenSea: That’s cool. Thank you again! It was such a pleasure chatting.

Ponke: Likewise. I’m looking forward to you seeing what’s coming. 

Note: The information provided in this article, including references to any cryptocurrency, token, memecoin, NFT, or other digital asset is for general informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this article constitutes, or should be construed as, financial, investment, or trading advice. ‍