What’s Worth Watching After the First Wave of Arc Hype?

The new chain has just launched, and what it lacks the least is stories.

Written by: JamesX

A few days ago, I discussed Arc, compiling ecological projects, noteworthy accounts, and analyzing the popular tokens at the time of launch.

With the new chain just launched, there are plenty of stories to tell. Platform tokens, cat and dog coins, mascots, and a few names that look official can easily help one create a watchlist by scrolling through the timeline.

After the initial excitement fades, I’m more concerned with two questions. Which projects are still active? Which tokens have more to offer beyond their names and price fluctuations?

This time, I’ll highlight three token platforms: Argus, TOLLY, and Peach, breaking down their more prominent tokens. Are they platform tokens, projects with products, or merely memes propagated by the community? Let’s clarify this before discussing their worthiness of attention.

First, let’s address a common misconception.

A portion of the trading volume in Arc is artificially inflated.

Bitquery examined trades from September 19 to 20 and found two tokens impersonating ARGUS and WETH, generating significant trading volume through a few transactions. On the 20th alone, this accounted for approximately $39.9 million, making up 48.9% of the DEX trading volume for that day. After removing this, the trading change over the two days shifted from growth to a decline of about 25%.

This is Bitquery's investigation result; I did not independently re-run the entire chain data. It’s important to clarify for the real Argus that these were counterfeit tokens with the same name, and this should not be used to accuse the Argus project team of inflating their volume.

For regular players, this example is already quite practical. When you see “full-chain volume” or “funds have returned,” take a moment to check who is actually trading. Relying solely on token names and trading volumes can easily lead one to mistake false excitement for new opportunities.

Let’s first look at Argus, which encompasses platforms, cat coins, and virtual cities.

What Argus does is straightforward: it allows users to issue tokens, find tokens, trade, and check the tax and reward settings for various projects. The rules for each token on the platform may differ, so don’t assume that just because one project offers rewards, the entire ecosystem operates the same way.

ARGUS studies the business of token issuance platforms.

It is a platform-associated token backed by the actual product Argus. Compared to pure memes, there is at least a set of data to follow, such as how many people trade daily, how many new projects can emerge, and the relationship between the money generated from trading and the tokens.

However, platform tokens can also be speculative. The trading activity of ARGUS itself does not mean that other projects on the platform are actively played. I will keep it on my watchlist, focusing on whether the platform's business can continue after the hype subsides.

UpSideDownCat, a cat coin with the code USDC.

It revolves around the inverted cat image and the USDC abbreviation, which can be understood as a cat-themed meme. Currently, there are no independent product operations worth expanding upon; it mainly depends on whether the community can continue to gather people and how much liquidity remains in the pool.

This name needs a reminder. Here, USDC refers to the cat coin, which is entirely different from Circle’s dollar stablecoin. If you want to check the market, recognize the contract, and don’t just rely on four letters.

ARCASH aims to turn your wallet into a bank in a virtual city.

Its official website features a virtual city where you can see entries like City, Treasury, and DAO. The project claims that by holding tokens, you can own a bank on the street and receive treasury payments every two hours.

This gameplay adds a layer of product presentation compared to simple avatar coins, and it warrants further research. However, the cumulative payment section I saw this time was still empty, and I couldn’t verify actual payment records. For now, consider it a community project with a virtual city and reward narrative, and don’t rush to interpret “payments every two hours” as guaranteed stable income.

Next, let’s look at TOLLY, which has a large platform token but much smaller projects behind it.

The TOLLY page displays all the tokens on Arc, or you can view only the tokens issued by your platform. This time, I chose the latter, selecting the top five by market cap according to the official website.

Data comes from the TOLLY token list, with a snapshot taken around 11:18 to 11:24 Beijing time, recording market cap as displayed on the website.

TOLLY is a relatively clear platform token.

Its story revolves around token issuance, trading, transaction fees, and buyback and burn. During the same period, the official website showed that the platform had approximately $574,900 in trading volume over the past 24 hours, with 2,078 trading wallets. Note that the number of wallets does not equal the number of real users. The platform analysis page.

These five tokens combined show that TOLLY accounts for about 91.5% of the market cap. Beyond the third place, liquidity only ranges from a few thousand to over ten thousand dollars. Therefore, while “top five platform tokens” sounds impressive, whether you can buy and sell still depends on the liquidity.

Its burn data is also worth breaking down. The official website shows that approximately 56.75 million tokens have been removed, of which about 50.46 million came from direct burn of transaction fees, and about 6.29 million from market buybacks followed by burns.

Both methods can reduce the number of tokens, but spending USDC to buy back from the market generates that actual purchase. Don’t just see “burned tens of millions of tokens” and automatically assume the project team has dumped a lot of money into the market.

At that time, the cumulative spending on the shared buyback module was about 10,900 USDC, with about 53% of the funds coming from TOLLY’s own market. What I’m more interested in is whether other projects can contribute more trading and buyback funds. The platform can’t always rely on everyone speculating on the platform token to prove its worth.

KAIRO has a prediction market product worth looking into further.

Its gameplay involves using USDC to participate in event predictions, buying YES or NO, and settling based on the results at expiration. The official website also discusses perpetual contracts, but some features have launch conditions, so don’t assume all plans are ready-to-use products.

Thus, I categorize KAIRO as a product-related token rather than a pure meme. The next things to watch are how much of the market is genuinely trading, whether results can be settled smoothly, and if old users will return.

With a market cap of about $295,700, it’s easy to generate interest in “small market cap product tokens,” but there’s still a layer of relationship to verify regarding whether the product is used and whether token holders can benefit. This time, I did not confirm that tokens directly enjoy business income, and the official documents also disclose that they have not undergone external audits.

BANCOR is a meme that highlights the early story of Circle.

It combines the early naming story of Circle, the Bancor concept, and the phoenix image into a community narrative. Those who enjoy archaeological and historical references can easily understand why this type of token garners discussion.

However, the official website makes it clear that it is an independent community meme, unrelated to Circle, Arc, or Bancor Protocol’s BNT. The story can be interesting, but don’t fill in the official background for it.

SWIRLY adds an assistant interface outside of the meme.

It tells the story of an early Circle Invest assistant design concept being picked up by the community. The official website showcases features like chat, Arc knowledge Q&A, and trading preparation, clearly stating that it is an independent community meme.

These types of projects can be monitored to see if they can deliver on their promised functionalities. However, this time, I did not test the assistant nor confirm what product rights token holders might receive, so it’s more appropriate to understand it as “meme plus assistant interface.”

ARCSHIB is initially categorized as a meme.

Its name has a SHIB style, and while the platform issuance can be confirmed, the token page does not provide sufficient project entry points. It’s currently unclear about the team and its purpose, and it cannot be treated as an official Shiba Inu token issued to Arc. Areas with insufficient information will remain blank.

Finally, let’s look at Peach, which has a significant volume for its top tokens, but most are still community stories.

Peach simultaneously aggregates trading and issues tokens. According to the official introduction, tokens first trade on a curve and “graduate” to DEX after meeting certain conditions, continuing to trade in liquidity pools.

You can understand graduation as a change in trading phase. It does not mean the project has passed an audit or guarantees that someone will continue to buy afterward.

All five tokens have graduated, showing a total market cap of approximately $13.6012 million.

ARCMAN is a meme featuring an arcade character.

The issuance introduction depicts it as a mascot that eats through mazes in the Arc community, following the arcade fun and internet culture route, with the related account being @arcman1000x.

ARCOON is a raccoon that has entered the financial public chain.

Its story is brief: Arc was originally built for global finance, but a raccoon wandered in. It mainly relies on animal imagery and community propagation, with the issuance page linking to @arcooninarc.

These types of tokens do not require complex uses to be found. To study them, just observe whether the community is active, whether token holdings are concentrated, and whether trading depth can keep up with the market cap.

PP, or Peach People, follows the peach community route.

Its introduction revolves around the idea that Peach People plant ideas and grow possibilities, with the related account being @PeachPeopleARC. Existing materials support categorizing it as a community meme, with no proof that it holds governance or revenue-sharing rights for the Peach platform.

PEACH shares the same name as the platform, but its official identity has not been confirmed.

This is the easiest one to mistakenly buy based on logic. The issuance page states aggregator and Launchpad, and links also point to the Peach official website and account, making it look like a platform token.

The problem is that this content can be filled in by the issuer themselves. I did not find official confirmation from the platform regarding this specific contract this time, nor did I verify governance or fee rights. Therefore, it remains on the list, but its classification is “same-name token, identity pending confirmation.” Researching the Peach platform and buying this PEACH should be judged separately.

RAIDERS is a meme representing the Arc community legion.

The introduction describes players as raiders, builders, and believers who build Arc together, with the related account being @_ARCRaiders. Currently, there is no evidence linking it to the same-named commercial game.

This token particularly illustrates why one cannot rely solely on market cap. In the snapshot, it shows about $201,200, with only 19 holding addresses and a 24-hour trading volume of $0.99. On paper, it ranks in the top five, but it’s far from what the market is willing to pay for your sell orders.

If I had to keep just one watchlist, I would look at it this way.

I’m more interested in whether TOLLY and ARGUS can sustain their platform business and how the generated funds relate to the tokens. I’ll continue to monitor KAIRO for product usage and settlement, while ARCASH and SWIRLY will first verify how far the functionalities displayed on their websites have progressed.

Peach itself is worth continued tracking, as it already has several larger issuance assets. However, for the memes within, it’s still more useful to study them as memes, focusing on community, token distribution, and liquidity rather than forcing a grand purpose onto them.

Sometimes, small market caps mean it’s still early, and sometimes it means there aren’t many people trading anymore. Opening the pool for a look often proves more helpful than reading ten calls.