Monke. K. .b 3 nis. Wen Poem. Adopting orangutans in Indonesia. Potassium. 19. Rain. Apes. 

Here it is. Part 1 of my banano series. This one is focusing on culture. Everything you did and did not want to know about banano is encapsulated in this post. Jk. There's...there's just too much going on in this weird AF community. Honestly, I wish I could show you some of the insanity. But I hope the memes suffice. It's hilarious. It's filled with childish humor where everyone's tipping each other 19 (atomic number for potassium)/4.20/6.9 bananos all the time, there are brilliant engineers, global and multi-ethnic representation, the internet's foremost meme-lords, support for the n00bs, so much artistic talent, and an overwhelming amount of banana references. 

"Even if this coin goes belly up, I like this group of people lol you guys are funny." -random new non-citizen of The-Jungle

I feel like an anthropologist who is embedded with the "monkes". Though it is a cryptocurrency, banano isn't just about the money. The community is biggest on Discord, but the subreddit r/bananos is their Reddit HQ and r/bananotime is full of games threads including trivia, art challenges that are quick, easy, and fun ways to participate in the Banano Economy.

The Jungle, the primary Discord channel of Banano is the capitol of the Banano Republic. All important information can be gathered there. And I wanted to do my own due diligence, so I took the time to participate, listen, learn, and earn banano. I won some banano doing Star Wars trivia, talked with new monkes around the globe, tipped other folks with my banano, and was active enough that I am proud to say that as of two days ago I am a Citizen of the Banano Republic. But now the fun begins.

But Banano is more than just shit-coin, lol-coin, or meme-coin, even though their motto is "Don't Let Your Memes Be Dreams!" It's about finding a fun way to build community that isn't just about the crypto, it's working on creating a culture that is around crypto. It's a fiat-culture-fork! Like, there's noone (where I know of) that is like this. If there is, tell me! And yo!--they know how to meme-ify everything. And the memes are just right Forreals though. 

For a multi-ethnic, inter-generational, monkey-obsessed community to come up with such memes! It is really impressive. These memes cross national, religious, crypto, political, and potassium-deficient divides! Look at the beautiful banano emojis!  It really just fills up your heart. It's got the energy of r/wallstreebets with the 'roid filled rage of bananas and dollops of gratuitous tipping called "rains" where everyone is showered with banano. It is quite intimate to shower with so many people. The arts are greatly appreciated in the banano community, with prizes and tips in banano being regularly doled out for poetry, videos, memes, cartoons, and so much more. A tradition in The Jungle is for a newly minted Citizen are initiated by writing an original poem for the whole 20k members to read. This poem is then archived. There poems are a beautiful and show how many of them feel real belong and care from of their banano community.

For those of you wondering if banano has any "real" value. Yes, it's high in potassium. The saying is "1 ban = 1 ban" but there's also this if you really care.