Author: Weilin, PANews
AI technology is powering a new generation of digital singers and virtual idols, delivering stunningly realistic visuals that not only look human but are also becoming more interactive and expressive. Across the entertainment industry, AI-generated artists are emerging in music, dance, and character design, accelerating content creation and ushering in a new era for the virtual idol ecosystem.
MEET48 is an "entertainment-social metaverse" that blends AI-generated content (AIGC), virtual idols, fan engagement, and Web3 incentives. With strong backing, the project recently closed a token funding round at a valuation exceeding RMB 100 million. The round was led by Liang Xinjun, co-founder of Fosun Group, alongside Hash Global, HashKey Capital, and Animoca Brands. MEET48 has also been selected for Binance's BSC Ecosystem MVB Incubation Program Season 8.
Following its Token Generation Event (TGE) on June 11, MEET48 has reached a pivotal milestone. Now, with its dual AI + Web3 engine, how will it redefine the future of the "fan economy + creator economy"?
From Hatsune Miku to AIUGC: How Tech Convergence is Reshaping Entertainment
The rise of Hatsune Miku in 2007, powered by VOCALOID voice-synthesis technology, ushered in the User-Generated Content (UGC) era for virtual idols. Later, platforms like Japan's Hololive and Korea's PLAVE pushed the envelope with motion capture and professionally generated content (PGC). However, PGC models face high costs, creative constraints, and slow update cycles. Today, MEET48 is charting a new course by using AI to drive content creation and Web3 to manage value distribution.
MEET48 offers a diverse product ecosystem: the Web3+AI entertainment creation platform MEET48.ai, the AI Agent-powered meme-token launchpad Mars Protocol, and the immersive virtual world MEET48 Metaverse.
On February 7, the team launched MEET48.ai, a Web3 platform for training AI virtual idols, socializing, and creating multimedia AIGC content. It features tools for text-to-music, music-to-dance, AI choreography, and voice cloning, allowing AI idols to produce content that can be instantly shared across social media. The platform also includes AISHOWBOX, a proprietary toolkit for 3D image generation, AI choreography, and creating idol agents.
Initially, MEET48.ai is leveraging exclusive content from the MEET48 ecosystem. Its media library already includes over 700 songs and dance routines from SNH48 GROUP, a Chinese idol group with more than 30 million fans. Additionally, more than 250 active idols are set to create their own AI agent counterparts.
Mars Protocol, MEET48's innovative token launchpad, also launched on February 7 as the first AI idol platform on BNB Chain. By combining "Idol Meme + AI Agent" models, it aims to reshape the Web3 idol economy with one-click tools for token issuance, circulation, and trading. The platform integrates AI for text, image, music, and voice generation with on-chain asset pathways, enabling the tokenization of virtual idols and decentralized community participation.
MEET48 Metaverse is a virtual world designed for immersive social experiences beyond physical and temporal limits. The project has also developed its own multimodal large language model, trained on specialized music and dance datasets, which powers its AI creation tools and a Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) editor to lower content creation barriers. Its training dataset reaches up to 500 TB.
Top-Tier Backing: MEET48's Control Over Core Content Assets
On April 4, MEET48 announced the close of its token funding round, reaching a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $100 million. The round was co-led by Fosun Group co-founder Liang Xinjun, Hash Global, and HashKey Capital, with participation from Animoca Brands, Infinity Labs, Promontory, Oak Grove, and other Web3 professionals. The funds will support team growth and AI product development.
Investors are attracted not only to MEET48's technical execution but also to its control over key content assets. Through its licensing agreement with SNH48, MEET48 gains access to an authentic fan base and IP stickiness in the AI virtual human space—combined with its tech stack, this forms a strong competitive moat.
Community metrics further underscore its potential. As of January 14, 2025, during the global "MEET BEST7" voting campaign, its voting DApp recorded over 697 million total votes, 3.39 million registered users, 32.78 million on-chain transactions, and attracted more than 1.18 million unique active wallet addresses. It ranked #1 among social DApps on DappBay and #3 on DappRadar's Social DApp leaderboard. These numbers demonstrate real market demand and scalability, showcasing a project that has already validated user growth, on-chain activity, and ecosystem consensus.
On October 30 last year, BNB Chain selected MEET48 for its eighth MVB (Most Valuable Builder) accelerator program—a four-week initiative run by Binance Labs and CMC Labs. With an acceptance rate of less than 1% from over a thousand applicants, the program provided MEET48 with tailored curriculum, mentorship from BNB Chain, Binance Labs, and CMC Labs investment teams, and full access to the BNB Chain ecosystem.
At April's Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, MEET48 co-founder Wayne Zhang joined the "BNB Chain AI Unlocks the Future" panel on "How AI Agents Are Reshaping the Web3 Ecosystem." Panelists explored AI Agent use cases—from smart contract automation and personalized recommendations to new Web3 interaction models—and discussed AI's potential and challenges in on-chain data analytics and DAO governance, offering forward-looking insights for the industry.
Token Economics Powering AI Idol Co-Creation
To show appreciation for the MEET48 community, the $IDOL utility token airdrop is now live. The snapshot was taken on May 21, 2025, at 16:00 UTC, and the claim portal opened on June 9 at 03:00 UTC.
$IDOL began trading on Binance Wallet, Bitget, Gate, MEXC, and PancakeSwap starting June 11. Binance Wallet hosted an exclusive $IDOL TGE event from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (UTC+8) on June 11, requiring eligible users to participate with Binance Alpha Points. Bitget, Gate, and MEXC listed the IDOL token at 8:00 PM (UTC+8) on the same day.
MEET48's native token, $IDOL, has a total supply of 4.8 billion tokens, allocated as follows:
Community Incentives (including rewards, future airdrops): 45.2%
Supporters (strategic & private rounds): 7%
Team & Advisors: 17%
Liquidity Support: 3%
Ecosystem Support: 20%
Marketing: 5.8%
IDO (Initial Decentralized Offering): 2%
Note: To support the smooth launch of new community products and foster healthy ecosystem growth, a portion of tokens from the "Community Incentives" and "Ecosystem" allocations may be unlocked early—but only for user incentives and marketing tied to new products, pending approval via community DAO vote.
Roadmap Preview: From Idol Elections to an AIGC Game Matrix
The much-anticipated TGE is just one of several major milestones for MEET48 in 2025. For the rest of the year, the project will host the WIPA Community Annual Idol Election, optimize the Mars Protocol launchpad, conduct a limited test for "AI Dance Dance Revolution," and release two Web3 games: "Bounty Fish Hunter" and "Chain Monopoly."
According to the roadmap, the WIPA Community Annual Idol Election & Launch Ceremony will take place on August 2, 2025, at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo. The event will feature SNH48, idol artists from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, alongside their overseas AI-Agent virtual groups.
In Q3, development will focus on enhancing Mars Protocol's AI Agent and meme coin launch features, while progressing on the "AI Idol Practice Room." This voice-enabled system allows users, as producers, to control real-world music scenes, lighting, operate 3D virtual idols, and direct choreography and livestreams.
"AI Dance Dance Revolution" will also see further development. Building on the original game's massive legacy—over 1 billion users and $10 billion+ in revenue—this new version integrates $IDOL, LLMs for virtual idol music/dance, and AI Agent tech to create a large-scale, full-ecosystem community game. $IDOL will be the primary in-game currency, with a limited test planned for Q3.
In Q4 2025, the two Web3 entertainment games, "Bounty Fish Hunter" and "Chain Monopoly," are set to launch. Full public testing and commercial operations for "AI Dance Dance Revolution" are scheduled for Q1 2026.
Ultimately, MEET48 is building a global, AI-powered Web3 ecosystem for entertainment, socializing, creation, and asset ownership. Anchored by a Web3 AI Social Metaverse and driven by its community and multiple AI gaming systems, the project's future developments are highly anticipated.