---
title: "Crypto Corner — there’s an art to making money in the attention economy"
description: "The memecoin – that volatile black sheep of the crypto family – shouldn’t be confused with other blockchain innovations we’re seeing mature in the real world."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "COIN FLIPS"
author: "Lindsey Schutters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/lindsey-schutters-2/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-08-17-crypto-corner-theres-an-art-to-making-money-in-the-attention-economy/"
published: "2025-08-17T20:10:27"
updated: "2025-08-17T20:10:29"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 401
---

# Crypto Corner — there’s an art to making money in the attention economy

> The memecoin – that volatile black sheep of the crypto family – shouldn’t be confused with other blockchain innovations we’re seeing mature in the real world.

By Lindsey Schutters · Published 17 August 2025, 22:10 SAST · Updated 17 August 2025, 22:10 SAST

## Key points
- In a world where memecoins can rake in millions faster than you can say "to the moon," Alan Knott-Craig's Fibertime emerges as a refreshing reminder that crypto can actually serve a purpose, like providing reliable internet access for just R5.
- Memecoins, like the recently launched Trump coin, can generate massive funds, exemplifying the hype-driven nature of crypto crowdfunding.
- With platforms allowing quick memecoin creation, anyone with a meme can potentially cash in, but risks of scams remain high.
- Alan Knott-Craig's Fibertime token offers a practical use case for crypto, providing affordable internet access through R5 vouchers, effectively acting as stablecoins.
- As the crypto market matures, the focus shifts from speculative schemes to innovative solutions with real-world utility.

## Content

Rule 34. If you need to know what that means, go ask someone who grew up alongside the internet. While that rule makes reference to adult pleasures, there should be a new guideline to deal with more childish things: memecoins.

When the sultan of self-pleasure launched a memecoin to honour his pending inauguration, the Trump coin reportedly netted $350-million from the token sale and associated fees. If you’re older than 18 and have a unique meme or fundraising idea, you can mint a memecoin of your own design in under 20 minutes – with some platforms even promising “fair launch” to ensure mass participation.

Memecoins are a pure conversion of technology-induced attention traps to money, and have become crypto startup community shorthand for crowdfunding. If you can drive enough interest (read: hype) you can send that coin to the moon. Be warned: if the meme exists then there is probably a memecoin for it already. Rug pulls are harder than you think.

That volatile black sheep of the crypto family shouldn’t be confused with other blockchain innovations we’re seeing mature in the real world. Alan Knott-Craig’s latest venture into connecting the masses, for instance, pegs the Fibertime token (read: the R5 *airtime* voucher) to a 24-hour period.

To clarify: Fibertime is rolling out fibre internet into townships and installing routers in homes, and all the people who want to use the service need do is buy a R5 voucher to get 24 hours of uncapped, unshaped, unthrottled internet access on their device. Vouchers cost R5 because that’s the size of the blocks on the blockchain which handles the transaction ledger.

**Read more**: [Walking the township fibre fault line with Alan Knott-Craig](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-08-13-on-the-township-fibre-fault-line-with-alan-knott-craig/)

This makes the airtime vouchers, effectively, stablecoins. “If the rand starts to lose its value, people can still connect to the internet if they have a voucher – and then trade the connectivity vouchers among themselves,” Knott-Craig explains.

It’s low-key genius and the most practical example of the mythical concept of crypto utility I’ve yet seen. It is, also, a model that could only have ever come from the brain of a serial entrepreneur who has learnt many hard lessons growing up with a surname that is woven into the very fabric of South Africa’s digital infrastructure.

There seems to be no more time for childish games, rug pulls or pump and dumps in the maturing crypto market. **DM**