The Trenches blog
First coin to first trade
A memecoin is a crypto asset tied to a meme, character or cultural theme. This series answers, in plain words, the questions people ask when they first meet one. Start with part 1 or jump to your question, then practice each idea free on Trenches.
Read first and practice second. Most new coins go to zero. Trade only what you can lose.
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What a memecoin is, and why attention is the market
What a memecoin is, why attention and not a product drives its demand, why a picture and a crowd prove nothing, and where new coins launch and trade.
Start with part 1All 11 parts, in reading order
How Trenches works: the road, paper trades, battles
Find your way around Trenches: the road and the Memecoin starter, a paper trade and its receipt, battles, Toro, the Hub and the Discord.
How a coin is made: the curve, graduation and the pool
How a new coin comes to exist, what a bonding curve does to its price, and why progress, completion and migration are three separate events.
Why a coin has a price, and why thin coins slip
Why a price is the last trade and not an offer, how bids and asks work, why market cap is not cash, and why big orders on thin coins slip.
Reading token stats: holders, volume, age and depth
What each number on a token page or board row counts, which ones are history, which are available now, and why none of them is a safety score.
Wallets, keys and the seed phrase
What a wallet holds and what it does not, why an address is public and a key is private, where a seed phrase belongs, and what to do if it leaks.
Spotting scams and low-quality tokens
Read a falling chart by its history, check the powers a creator kept, and spot copies, paid posts and the messages built to take wallets.
Metas and narratives: where attention goes
What a meta is, how to test a coin's story, what a trending tab ranks, and why attention can fade faster than you can leave.
Trading psychology: missed moves, tilt and revenge
Why a missed move costs nothing, how to pause when a message pushes you, how a reset replaces a revenge trade, and why a good decision can lose.
Sizing and risk on thin coins: who buys your exit
How a loss budget and a pool's depth set a position's size, what an exit really pays on a thin coin, and why a sale needs SOL for its fees.
From paper to real: the way there, with the risks
The six line check, what paper trading never tested, what changes with real money, and exactly what Trenches shows you when you choose to go live.
Practice it
Start with the free lessons
New here? Read What a memecoin is, and why attention is the market first. Then start learning free with the Memecoin starter: seven short units for people who have never bought a coin, followed by practice trades with paper money on live prices.
Start the free Memecoin starter Start the free Memecoin starter