Let's Cook.

The oldest, and most effective form of marketing is through tastemakers. Users of a certain product that have the ability to reach a wide audience, and can communicate the value of the good or service through direct story-telling, or even indirect influence of their audiences whom look up to them. Known in web2 as ‘influencers’, and in crypto as ‘key opinion leaders’ or ‘KOLs’, these individuals are more effective than any other form of marketing.

They say humans prefer to buy things from other humans, which is why marketing via tastemakers work. We see and hear those we look up to using something, and we want to be like them. In the digital age, the reach of tastemakers make them a powerful tool for influencing consumers at scale. Whether it is a handbag, a latte, or, in this case, a digital asset, tastemakers sit atop the marketing food chain.

In every other industry, marketing via influencers is organized and streamlined in some way. The marketing still feels organic, but behind the scenes there are often highly-sophisticated systems orchestrating the relationships between the good/service and the influencer. Let's Cook is the first system of its kind engineered specifically for the promotion of digital assets via tastemakers.

The Solana memecoin ecosystem have always had a massive whitespace in this realm. Nobody has ever attempted to coordinate key marketers with well-meaning token projects. As you probably know if you're reading this, projects need KOLs to drive awareness of their token, but often lack access to them. And even if they do have access, the lack of clear goals or mechanisms to assure performance prevent partnerships from occurring and performing well.

On the flip side, meme coin KOLs tend to shy away from formalized token deals for a number of reasons, which we'll unpack in this document. At a high level, they fear shilling tokens in the current environment that is riddled with low-quality devs. And on top of it, the lack of tangible goals and the awkwardness of how to profit (i.e. how to ‘sell’) has resulted in most KOLs avoiding token ‘deals’ altogether.

LetsCook is a protocol that formalizes, initiates, and executes high-performance marketing agreements between KOLs and token project leaders or stakeholders. It uses a proprietary on-chain execution layer to create marketing agreements with mutually aligned benefits and rewards. Both parties must perform, and both parties share the upside only when the token price hits the target. No invoices. No escrow disputes. No honor system. The smart contract handles everything. Deals are confidential, verifiable, and executed automatically.

This paper describes the problems that led to LetsCook's creation, the protocol's architecture and deal mechanics, and why it represents an elegant, composable solution for incentive-aligned token marketing on Solana.

As recently as 2024, the Solana memecoin trenches looked much different. Launchpads were in their infancy, and the barriers to setting up a memecoin were quite a bit higher. Devs and teams were forced to seed, fund, and lock their own liquidity pools. With the exception of bad actors who performed true “rugs” by pulling the LP before locking, teams were forced to make a significant commit to their tokens before even breaking even on their initial investment.

Teams would build marketing materials, websites, and facilitate community growth through consistency and hard work. It didn't always succeed, but when it did, the results were remarkable. Teams and devs worked hard. Real communities formed. Holders banded together and promoted their token for weeks on end. There was genuine alignment between teams and holders. At any given time there was a marketing flywheel in place, because the holders trusted the team, so they felt comfortable pushing, and on the flip-side, the teams received a motivating positive feedback loop from their holders rigorous conviction.

The result was greater concentration of liquidity, more marketing mindshare for high quality coins. The most talented and committed teams rose to the top, and their tokens that soared to multi-million dollar valuations and beyond. The KOLs felt confident promoting these tokens for extended periods because they had a level of trust in the leadership team, and confidence that other holders would hold and push alongside them.

True wealth and excitement were created because the infrastructure and environment allowed for it.

Fast forward to 2026. We can all agree that the Solana trenches have evolved, and not necessarily in a good way. While they remain one of the most exciting and volatile domains for advanced crypto speculators, the tooling and infrastructure has slowly shifted the overall mentality away from holding, towards fast, low-effort serial deployments and hyper-rotational behavior. The reasons why are quite obvious.

2.1 The Infrastructure Shift

The emergence of new tooling have contributed to this shift in memecoin fundamentals.

• Bonding Curve Launchpads reduced the cost of setting up a memecoin to near zero. Tokens are spawned at scale, with almost none surviving past a few minutes, let alone reaching LP seeding.
• Multi-Wallet Tools allow individual users to scoop up a disproportionate amount of a token supply to simulate organic demand, then dump it all for small profits in a repeatable loop.
• Arbitrage Bots buy and sell for tiny margins, often damaging projects before they get off the ground. The availability of AI-assisted coding tools has made these increasingly accessible.

Some counter-tools like Bubblemaps, dev blacklisting, and top-wallet analysis do help identify some of the minefield. But in many ways, the cultural damage has been done.

2.2 Hyper-Rotational Behavior

Along with this new tooling, a new wave of younger traders equipped with this new tooling have begun embracing shorter hold times. They stream themselves extracting large amounts of liquidity from low-cap coins, many of which don't even graduate from the pumpfun bonding curve (20k ‘toppers’).

This strategy involves acquiring large amounts of a token, disguising its ownership, and then selling aggressively at the smallest sign of an upward price move. The younger generation openly demonstrates farming of these low-cap coins on their kick/twitch streams. The culture now glorifies extraction over building.

This type of behavior caps the upside of most tokens. Projects have shorter lifespans and much lower all-time-highs. It is the all-time-high that creates the marketing for the Solana trenches in general. Tokens like WIF, POPCAT, and GME acted as billboards for this corner of the crypto market, proving you could make a 100x. Those days aren't gone, but the trend is clear.

2.3 No Incentive to Hold and Push

Because the ‘norm’ has become quick flips and hyper-rotation, with longer-lasting coins being fewer and further between, market cap upside is structurally limited. Holders don't hold, so KOLs don't push. KOLs don't push, so holders have even less reason to hold. It is a vicious and self-fulfilling race to the bottom. The most deceptive ‘traders’ with the fastest sell button are winning, while those with a traditional ‘HODL’ mentality suffer the consequences.

2.4 The Death of Good Teams

The accelerating speed of rotation has also discouraged good teams from forming and committing to their projects. Why invest long-term when holders refuse to hold for more than a minutes, never mind several hours or days?

Since the primary form of marketing is via KOLs, but KOLs are hesitant to push publicly for the reasons outlined above, how can a team expect to get their project off the ground?

Other marketing channels are pay-to-play and increasingly ineffective.

Dexscreener ads feel inauthentic.

Memecoin investors are some of the most skeptical consumers in the world.

If the marketing feels forced or inorganic, they will not buy, and seemingly the only accessible marketing channels ring hollow.

The bottom line: devs feel they have no tooling to create something lasting and meaningful, while they have an overwhelming amount of tooling to create small, meaningless, extractive tokens at scale.

KOLs are reluctant to promote anything relatively new or unproven, because they have no confidence in the teams behind them, and their commitment to their project.

2.5 KOL Deals are Dead

On top of all of the above, the highly unreliable ‘KOL deal’ is dead and gone. Even in the ‘old days’ where teams did commit to their tokens for longer than an hour, the deals were flawed.

They relied purely on trust between completely anonymous parties, with no definable goals and no clean way of deal execution.

Teams would have basic handshake deals with KOLs, send them large amounts of token supply to ‘push’ and then rely on the KOL performing a virtually impossible task of moving the token market cap but still benefitting (which required selling discreetly).

Inevitably one of the two parties felt used because it was ultimately a game of chicken (who would sell first?) Either the team would dump tokens while the KOL pushed, thus making it impossible for the KOL to benefit from their work, or the KOL would simply sell their own tokens before acting in good faith and pushing.

These deals rarely worked in the old days, and with the total lack of trust in the current environment, they essentially are a thing of the past.

LetsCook solves both of these fundamental problems by replacing old trust-based agreements with mechanically-enforced ones.

Instead of a DM negotiation that ends with “send tokens to this wallet and I'll promote you,” LetsCook creates a structure where:

1. The team deposits tokens into a verifiable on-chain position
2. The KOL performs marketing work that is verified via API
3. Both parties earn SOL only when the token price actually increases
4. Neither party can extract value without the other performing

On deal acceptance, tokens are deposited automatically into a DLMM pool that gradually convert to SOL as the target market cap is achieved.

Half of the tokens that are converted to SOL are claimable by the KOL upon deal target market cap being achieved, and half are claimable by the team.

WHY DOES THE TEAM GET SOL? The team receives a portion of tokens along with the KOL so that they remain incentivized to hit the goal. Otherwise there would be temptation to suppress price prior to the target, via other means beyond LetsCook platform control. Teams can also opt to lock their share of tokens instead of converting, if they would prefer to retain control of that supply. See section 7 below for more information on the team-matching system.

The DLMM pool sits adjacent to the tokens main Liquidity pool, just like how normal DLMM activity behaves.

The core insight is that Meteora's DLMM program can be repurposed as a deal execution engine.

By depositing tokens into specific price bins in a DLMM pool, the platform creates a position that only converts tokens to SOL as the market naturally reaches those price levels.

This conversion is fully on-chain, verifiable by anyone, and cannot be manipulated by either party.

The DLMM pool is initiated and managed via the LetsCook smart contract:

• The price target is the contract's condition
• The token-to-SOL conversion is the contract's execution
• Neither the team, the KOL, or even the LetsCook platform can modify the terms of deal once it is accepted by both parties

Every deal on LetsCook follows a six-stage lifecycle:

4.1 Create

The project team configures the deal parameters: which token to be promoted, the target market cap (expressed as a multiplier, or ‘X’s’), token allocation percentage to be used for the deal, the type of deal being used (‘Slow Cook’ or ‘Moon or Dust’), the time window in which the target must be reached, the KOL that they would like to hire, and the customizable Proof of Work requirements that the KOL must perform to fulfill their end of the bargain, and the window of time that the POW must be performed. The platform performs on-chain token validation, calculates yield estimates, and runs a risk analysis against DexScreener and Rugcheck data.

WHY IS THE TARGET/GOAL TIME WINDOW DIFFERENT FROM THE PROOF OF WORK DEADLINE? The length of time that both parties agree on to hit the target market cap is (and should be) longer than the POW window, to prevent KOLs from ‘free-riding’. Think of it this way — if a KOL took a deal, forgot (or intentionally) did nothing, but then saw the token pumping, and then performed their POW at the last second, they will have received payment for a pump that they didn't have any impact on.

4.2 Escrow

To execute and send an offer, the team must deposit their tokens into the LetsCook platform, where the tokens are securely managed and escrowed while deal specifics are negotiated. These tokens will then be used to seed the DLMM pool (or send a Streamflow on-chain lock, if that's the option that they choose). The escrow holds 2x the KOL's allocation (see Team Match, Section 7). The platform verifies the deposit on-chain before advancing the deal.

4.3 Offer

The deal is sent to a specific KOL. They receive notifications via the LetsCook platform messaging system, (and Telegram if they have synced to the Telegram bot). They have 24 hours to accept, or counter the offer. If the offer expires, tokens are automatically returned to the originating offerer.

4.4 Accept or Counter

The KOL can choose to accept, or counter the offer. Variables like target market cap, time window to hit the target, and deal type are negotiable between the KOL and offerer. Once the two sides reach an agreement, the platform immediately creates a Meteora DLMM pool using the escrowed tokens, and the platform handles the rest.

4.5 Active

When a deal is active, the deal DLMM pool is seeded with tokens, and directions for how and when to convert the tokens are handled automatically via the LetsCook smart contract, in accordance with what the original deal terms are. As the token price upward through the bin range, tokens are converted to SOL automatically by the Meteora pool. The conversion percentage is tracked and displayed in real-time to both parties. Simultaneously, the KOL's Proof of Work requirements are monitored for, and then verified via the X API and Telegram Bot API.

4.6 Claim

For a ‘Moon or Dust’ deal type, when the target market cap for the deal is achieved, the deal is marked complete. Each party can independently claim their share of the converted SOL.

For both deal types, the KOL must have passed all PoW checks within the agreed upon POW window before their claim is unlocked.

LetsCook offers two deal strategies, each suited to different risk profiles, market conditions, and personal preferences.

5.1 Moon or Dust

The high-conviction strategy. Tokens are deposited into a DLMM pool position spanning the upper range of the target market cap range. Tokens only begin converting to SOL when the price is already well into the upper portion of the target. Moon or dust deals yield more SOL, and are higher-risk, higher-reward. If the target doesn't hit, the KOL gets nothing (even if the proof of work was performed), and tokens are returned to the original holder/deal-maker.

WHAT IF THE KOL PERFORMS THEIR PROOF OF WORK, BUT THE DEAL PRICE DOES NOT GET REACHED?

In this scenario, the tokens are returned to the original token team or dev. There is a risk that the KOL will have performed marketing service without being compensated, but that is the nature of the higher risk ‘moon or dust’ strategy. Users seeking a more conservative, lower-risk structure should opt for the ‘slow cook’ strategy.

Pool rent deposit: 0.25 SOL. No partial claims.

5.2 Slow Cook

The progressive strategy. Tokens are deposited across the full market cap range spanning from deal's starting MC to target MC, with 4 milestones set at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95% of the range. As the token price moves through each milestone, a portion of the converted SOL becomes claimable (as long as the proof of work was completed on time).

Liquidity is arranged incrementally at each milestone and deliberately back-loaded to reward sustained growth, and make sure that the biggest payout happens at the end, when the final target goal is reached. This keeps everyone motivated and aligned incentively.

This incentivizes both parties to sustain momentum rather than front-loading effort. The majority of the payout comes in the final stages, aligning the KOL's marketing effort with the team's need for sustained price action. Pool rent deposit: 0.35 SOL. Both parties receive real-time milestone notifications via the LetsCook platform (and TG is Telegram is connected).

LetsCook replaces the honor system with API-verified marketing delivery. When a project creates a deal, they can require any combination of the following Proof of Work actions:

• Follow — KOL must follow the project's X account. Verified via the X API follower relationship endpoint.
• Post with Ticker — KOL must publish a specified number of posts mentioning the token's ticker symbol (with or without the $ prefix). Verified by searching the KOL's post history since deal acceptance.
• Post Contract Address — At least one post must contain the token's mint address, making it easy for followers to find and buy.
• Engagement Actions — Quote tweets, replies, and original tweets mentioning the token. Each action type can be individually required.
• Pin Tweet — KOL's pinned tweet must mention the token ticker, giving it maximum visibility on their profile.
• Telegram Channel Post — For KOLs with Telegram channels, the platform scrapes the linked channel for posts mentioning the ticker or contract address.

A WORD ON ‘SOFT-SHILLING’:

We recognize that a common, and effective form of memecoin marketing involves more subtle, often indirect posts known as ‘soft shills’. While the proof of work does require some more explicit forms of promotion, we highly encourage additional ‘soft shills’ in conjunction with the more direct proof of work postings. Also keep in mind that some deals will have different ‘proof of work’ requirements. Some will require full CA postings while some will require ticker only, or lore post engagement, etc.

6.1 Deadline Enforcement

Projects set a PoW deadline as a percentage of the deal's time window (25%–100%). A 7-day deal with a 50% deadline gives the KOL 3.5 days to complete all required checks. If any required check has not passed by the deadline, it is permanently marked as failed, and the KOL's claim is blocked.

This creates urgency for the KOL to deliver marketing services early in the deal, when the impact on price action is most critical. It also prevents a ‘free-ride’ scenario in which the coin pumps regardless of the KOL, who could in-theory then quickly scramble to perform the POW, and claim ‘free’ SOL even though.

WHY IS THE TARGET/GOAL TIME WINDOW DIFFERENT FROM THE PROOF OF WORK DEADLINE? The length of time that both parties agree on to hit the target market cap is (and should be) longer than the POW window, to prevent KOLs from ‘free-riding’. Think of it this way — if a KOL took a deal, forgot (or intentionally) did nothing, but then saw the token pumping, and then performed their POW at the last second, they will have received payment for a pump that they didn't have any impact on.

6.2 No PoW, No Claim

The PoW gate is absolute. Even if the token hits its target and SOL has been converted, the KOL cannot claim their share until every required PoW check shows as verified. This mechanically prevents the scenario where a KOL accepts a deal, does nothing, and profits from organic price action they had no part in creating.

The trust problem that LetsCook solves runs both directions, so we had to develop a fair system to ensure mutually-aligned incentives. KOLs need assurance that the team won't dump tokens from unaccounted wallets while the KOL is actively promoting. LetsCook addresses this by making devs or deal creators pick from one of our two team incentive mechanisms:

7.1 The 2x Team Match

When a project creates a deal, the platform requires the team to escrow twice the KOL's token allocation. If the KOL allocation is 1% of supply, the team must deposit 2% — for a total of 3% in escrow. This 2x match serves multiple purposes:

• Skin in the game. The team has more capital at risk than the KOL. Dumping from side wallets would only hurt the team's own escrowed position.
• Deeper liquidity. With 2x the tokens in the DLMM pool, there's more liquidity across the price range, leading to smoother price action and better execution for organic buyers.
• Symmetric upside. The 50/50 SOL split means the team earns the same amount of converted SOL as the KOL. If the full amount converts, the team wins along with the KOL. Both parties are equally motivated for the deal target to hit.

7.2 Streamflow On-Chain Lock

As an alternative trust signal to the team match into the DLMM pool, deal creators can choose to lock their half of the token allocation with our partners at Streamflow. This serves as a public, verifiable commitment that the team will not dump their holdings during the deal's active period and beyond. The lock is viewable on Streamflow's explorer. Anyone can verify it exists. Devs who prefer to maintain as much supply control as possible choose the Streamflow option so that they can get their tokens back at the conclusion of the deal.

Every token involved in a LetsCook offer is automatically scored by a multi-factor risk analysis engine. The score ranges from 0–100 and determines the token's risk tier, which is prominently displayed to KOLs before they accept. This acts as a protection layer for KOLs to identify well-meaning projects from less desirable, or higher-risk projects. KOLs see the risk tier before accepting any deal. This transparency allows them to price their reputation accordingly and make informed decisions about which projects to back.

8.1 Scoring Factors

The Let's Cook risk engine is driven by a number of factors including:

LetsCook tracks on-platform performance for both KOLs and project teams, creating a portable reputation system that rewards consistent delivery. This scoring system helps prevent bad actors while helping those with good-intentions and high-performance (the two will often go hand-in-hand) rise to the top.

9.1 KOL Reward Points

Every completed deal earns the KOL reward points based on multiple factors:

9.2 Tier System

Points accumulate into tiers that determine a KOL's visibility and deal flow:

• Bronze (0–4,999 pts) — Entry level.
• Silver (5,000–19,999 pts) — Proven track record.
• Gold (20,000–49,999 pts) — Consistent performer.
• Diamond (50,000+ pts) — Elite. Top of the directory.

The streak system is particularly important: consecutive completed deals earn compounding bonuses, but an expired deal resets the streak to zero. This creates a direct incentive for KOLs to only accept deals they intend to fully commit to.

9.3 Public Statistics

Both KOLs and projects accumulate visible statistics: hit rate, average multiplier, deals completed, and completion time averages. These stats are displayed on profile pages and the KOL directory, creating a transparent marketplace where performance history — not follower count or connections — determines reputation.

For projects, strong statistics attract better KOLs. For KOLs, strong statistics attract better deal offers. The system is self-reinforcing: good actors are rewarded with better opportunities, and bad actors are made visible by their track record.

LetsCook charges a flat 2.5% platform fee (250 basis points) on SOL at the point of claim. No additional upfront fees. No subscription. No fee on deals that don't convert. The platform only earns when both parties earn.

The platform also charges a per-token pool initiation fee of 0.35 SOL, which is a one-time fee passed on from Meteora to open the pool. Subsequent offers for that token have a 0.1 SOL fee.

The fees earned from LetsCook DLMM execution pools are expected to emit an amount of SOL and native token per each pool in which price enters the range and draws ten volume.

The token side of the fees become claimable by the KOL upon deal completion as their ‘moon bag’ reward. The SOL side is retained by the platform as the primary source of revenue to fund operations.

This structure ensures that the platform's incentives are perfectly aligned with its users. LetsCook earns more when deals convert at higher values, which only happens when teams build good projects and KOLs deliver effective marketing. There is no incentive to list bad deals or pad volume.

The Solana memecoin ecosystem doesn't lack talent, energy, or capital. It lacks structure. The tools that exist today reward extraction. LetsCook is a tool that rewards creation, work ethic, and commitment.

By using Meteora's DLMM as an execution layer, LetsCook transforms a simple concept — “if you promote my token and the price goes up, we both get paid” — into a mechanically-enforced, on-chain reality.

The team match ensures both parties are perfectly aligned and incentivized to hit the deal target. The Proof of Work system ensures marketing services are actually delivered. The risk analysis engine gives KOLs the information they need to make informed decisions. And the reputation system ensures that the best performers on both sides are visible and rewarded.

None of this requires custom smart contracts, token launches, or governance mechanisms. It is a practical tool built on existing, audited on-chain infrastructure that solves a real problem for a specific audience.

The beauty of LetsCook is also that it is compatible with any token, regardless of the launchpad that it came from. We aren't seeking to compete with launchpads. We're simply introducing a way to combat rotational farming behavior, and return the trenches to a culture of mutual alignment between teams, KOLs, and holders, and bring back the soaring market cap valuations that introduced Solana to new eyes.

We believe this is how the Solana trenches get back to the good old days — not by rolling back the infrastructure, but by building new infrastructure that finally gives good actors, the true heroes of the trenches, the ability to fight back.

Let's cook.