Turbo is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 memecoin, guided by GPT-4 and centered around a toad character named Quantum Leap. The project was initiated in April 2023 through a unique collaboration between Australian artist Rhett (Dashwood) Mankind and artificial intelligence. ^[1][2][3]

Overview

Turbo is a cryptocurrency project initiated by Rhett Mankind, an Australian digital artist with a background in branding, advertising, and digital art. The project started as an experiment that blended art, artificial intelligence (AI), and cryptocurrency. Despite having no prior experience in coding or smart contracts, Mankind utilized OpenAI’s GPT-4 to guide the creation of a memecoin.

The project officially began on April, 2023, with a modest budget of $69 USD, leading to the launch of TurboToadToken (TTT). GPT-4 provided step-by-step instructions, including the suggestion to develop a name for the token. Among several options, Mankind’s Twitter followers overwhelmingly chose the name “TurboToadToken.” The logo, featuring a space-helmet-wearing orange cartoon toad named Quantum Leap, was created using the AI image generator Midjourney, based on prompts provided by GPT-4.

One of the key challenges in developing TurboToadToken was Mankind’s lack of coding knowledge. Instead of dedicating years to learning Solidity, the programming language for smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, Mankind relied on GPT-4 to generate the necessary code. With the support of his Twitter community, Mankind addressed various coding errors over several days, eventually producing the first version of TurboToadToken.

However, the initial launch encountered difficulties when a malicious bot purchased nearly all the tokens after Mankind invested an additional $500, beyond the original $69, to deploy the token on the blockchain. Despite this setback, Turbo continued to gain momentum, exemplifying the intersection of art, AI, and the evolving cryptocurrency and NFT markets.

In April 2023, the TURBO coin was launched, featuring 69 billion tokens in circulation and operating on the Ethereum network. By June 2023, TURBO was listed on various cryptocurrency exchanges, including Toadswap, BlueBit.io, CoinW, and CoinEX, facilitating transactions for existing and new users alike.

In November 2023, Mankind relinquished control over the contract’s code, allowing the community to influence the project’s future direction. By March 2024, TURBO was listed on over 30 exchanges, including HTX, BTSE, KoinBX, BingX, AscendEx, and ZKE, broadening its accessibility to users. ^[4][5][6][7]​​^[8][12]

Turbo 2.0

Initially discouraged by setbacks, Rhett Mankind considered abandoning the project. However, a poll conducted among his Twitter followers showed strong support for continuing the experiment. Following this, Mankind sought further guidance from GPT-4, which recommended a crowdfunding approach. This method allowed investors to contribute funds in exchange for tokens proportional to their investment. The second launch attracted a new group of investors and rebranded the token as Turbo. The project gained popularity, even catching the attention of Elon Musk. ^[10][11]

Tokenomics

ChatGPT-created tokenomics model is based on these major elements:

• A fixed total supply of 69 billion tokens;
• A tax-free model to ‘simplify transactions and encourage trading activity;
• Renounced ownership over the contract to reinforce trust within potential buyers and future communities;
• Project launch without a presale period, in order to ensure a fair distribution and prevent any price manipulation strategies.^[12]

Turbo Community

While smaller than other online communities backing memecoins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu Coin, token holders took several initiatives, ranging from listing the coin on Dextools (which offers information to traders about decentralized markets) and several other CEXes and DEXes, to setting up a Telegram chat, to running an art contest that incorporates the token.

"It's all community run. I keep saying that, because people come into the Discord, because I look at the general chat, and they say, "who's the team? What are devs like? Are they are best friends?" And the answer is always there is no team. There's no devs. It's just community. Whatever someone wants to do in the community, they can do. And everything I've done is just to double down on that so it's clear. So I made sure that mascot and the logo is copyright free. No one has to worry about that. The contract is renounced, so I don't control the contract. I don't have access to the Twitter. I don't have mod permissions on Discord. I didn't start the Telegram. I'm not even on the Telegram. Everything that is done is done independent of me. I didn't start or do any of those sorts of initiatives."

The community played a role in the creation of the Turbo memecoin. It was involved at various stages of the coin’s development, and its involvement was important in multiple instances:

• Naming and logo design: The name “TurboToadToken” and the logo, an orange cartoon toad wearing a space helmet, were both chosen with input from Mankind’s Twitter followers. They preferred the name “TurboToadToken” among other suggestions by the AI chatbot GPT-4​;
• Coding assistance: While creating the token, the Twitter community also assisted Mankind in addressing various coding errors. This helped Mankind and GPT-4 to create the first version of the TurboToadToken​​;
• Support during setbacks: After the initial launch failed due to a malicious bot purchasing nearly all of the tokens, Mankind’s Twitter followers encouraged him to continue the project. They voted in a poll for him to continue, which led him to seek a new approach from GPT-4 and eventually led to the successful relaunch of the memecoin​​;
• Shared ownership and control: After the token’s launch, Mankind renounced ownership of the smart contract and made the mascot freely available to anyone. This action effectively put the control of the project into the community’s hands, fostering a sense of ownership and shared responsibility among its members​.^[12]