The idea behind Web3 was built on a promise of true decentralization. It was meant to hand power back to regular folks, without top-down control or hidden strings. Yet many of today’s meme coins twist that original goal into a profit-driven circus. The concept of “community” in these projects often looks like a feel-good campaign, but it’s a shallow front controlled by a select group of insiders.
I’ve spent over three decades working in the capital markets, studying how new technology can bring real value to people. It’s easy to spot when certain players dress up a risky game as the future of finance. Meme coins like $TRUMP and $MELANIA, both launched on Solana, had flashy beginnings but left a trail of shattered hopes for many. Rather than fostering genuine support or real-world use, they thrived on hype cycles and social buzz. Rapid token creation became a way for insiders to chase fast money.
This pattern grew even more obvious when Argentine President Javier Milei stepped into the spotlight by promoting the $LIBRA meme coin. Soon after his online endorsement, $LIBRA hit a massive $4 billion valuation and then collapsed within hours. Close to $99 million was pulled out by wallets tied to its creators, prompting an investigation that’s sparking calls for Milei’s impeachment. As if that wasn’t enough, a 28-year-old entrepreneur, Hayden Davis, admitted to being central to these deals. Davis tried to shift the blame, but documents imply he boasted about paying to gain influence over Milei. These details show how quickly meme coins can move from short-lived celebrations to massive shake-ups in court.
At their core, these projects claim to be about empowerment and excitement. Investors are drawn in by the belief that they’re joining a community eager to innovate. In truth, many are stepping into an arena where insiders manage everything from token supply to marketing scripts. These projects aren’t about shared growth; they focus on generating spikes in attention to feed the cycle of rapid trading. While outsiders hope for a shot at big returns, the real winners are often those who set the rules and run off with the lion’s share of the funds.
In my years guiding companies toward stable capital formation, I’ve observed that money follows trust. If a project is designed to trick or confuse buyers, that trust collapses. When hype takes priority over lasting solutions, investors are left with worthless tokens, and the entire sector takes a hit. Web3 can’t advance if it’s framed by half-truths. Genuine innovation demands honesty, openness, and the willingness to admit where things go wrong.
The $LIBRA scandal underlines the need for proper checks, balanced rules, and clear communication from project leaders. True Web3 should nurture initiatives that bring measurable gains and avoid short-lived betting games. Overseeing token supply and monitoring liquidity providers are not simply technical tasks; they are moral obligations to protect both small and big investors.
Blockchain itself is a strong technology with huge promise, but it’s being used for the wrong reasons by certain folks chasing a quick payout. Capital allocators who want to support the next wave of digital assets must look past the noise. When investors forget the difference between real market growth and staged events, they back weak ideas that can wreck public opinion of the whole sector.
There’s still time to save the original hope of Web3. It’s going to take leaders who mean what they say and technology that resists manipulation. Investors must grow more alert and demand total clarity. When those pieces align, blockchain can go from hosting hype coins to driving real economic value.
That vision—of a technology that genuinely levels the playing field—is why I got involved in blockchain in the first place. But until we shift away from meme coins and their so-called “communities,” this industry is heading down a dangerous path. The only way forward is to look deeper than tweets or celebrity endorsements and ask: Who really benefits when the dust settles? True innovation will come from projects that build trust through fairness and purpose, not from those that spin empty hype and call it a movement.
