Written by: TechFlow
On the evening of April 14, 1intro, which claims to be the first native LBP project on Solana, also started the sale of its token $1INTRO through LBP.
Solana is a public chain that has been hotly traded this year. Many golden dogs with great wealth effects have emerged on the chain; but there are also many fake dogs. Various wild projects previously shouted pre-sales and payments, but in the end Rug Pull also caused losses to players.
Therefore, a native LBP for Solana seems to be timely and can fill the gaps in narrative and token issuance in the Solana ecosystem.
But the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
If you search 1intro on Twitter, you will find that a large number of KOLs were promoting this project 1-2 weeks ago and had high hopes for it;
However, the price changes of LBP itself are the most honest.
When $1INTRO opened, the price reached a high of $1.13, which was equivalent to about $1 billion in FDV at the time; then its price fell rapidly, and when I woke up, the price was only around $0.11.
At the same time, the LBP, which was originally designed to finance 200M, had only completed 4M as of press time, and the progress was very slow.
Why can’t the projects that KOLs collectively favor arouse market enthusiasm?
The highly criticized valuation and the publicity failure
Price is a comprehensive reflection of all market information, and it is obvious that 1intro is suffering from a barrage of negative information.
Three hours after the launch of 1intro LBP, its official Twitter account posted various achievement data, such as 5,000 people participated in LBP, 6,300 SOLs were raised, etc.
But in contrast to the brilliant performance, the comment section is full of various questioning voices, the most eye-catching of which is the criticism that the cost of KOL to get the currency is only 0.02 US dollars.
Even if calculated based on the unit price of $0.11 at the time of publication, KOLs have already made 5 times the profit on $1INTRO; and if calculated based on the high price of $1.1 at the opening, the profit is a staggering 50 times.
Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. After the news was digested, the market naturally did not buy it, and it is not difficult to understand why the price of LBP has slowed down.
The extremely low price that KOLs pay for coins does not seem to be groundless.
Well-known on-chain detective ZachXBT (@zachxbt) exposed various documents and forms in 1intro’s private placement round of fundraising from KOLs, which clearly stated:
The total FDV is $20M (referring to the total amount of the KOL round), 25% of the tokens will be released at TGE, and the remaining will be released at 5% per month.
If calculated based on the total amount of 1 billion tokens set by the 1intro token economy, the price given to the KOL is indeed 0.02 US dollars. The possibility of the on-chain detective confirming this is very high.
If the current price is maintained until the end of LBP, KOLs will make a net profit of 5 times, and since 25% is unlocked instantly, theoretically a total of $5M of tokens will be sold on the market, forming a round of selling pressure.
What is even more ridiculous is that in another screenshot released by Chain Detective, 1intro has already asked KOLs to sign a preventive clause:
“Do you agree that selling your tokens in small, respectful batches… and do you agree that selling your tokens irresponsibly may result in a need for a refund?”
Obviously, the project team had anticipated that KOLs would sell their coins under their unlocking terms, causing selling pressure, so they took the lead in setting three rules to serve as a warning to KOLs.
However, this may not be a particularly clever measure. In essence, it is still a joint promotion between the project party and the KOL. The KOLs get the huge profits first, and the leeks are still the ones who take over, but it is agreed that the way they eat must look better.
At the same time, the criticism against 1intro began to intensify.
Video artist Erica Anderson said that 1intro’s official Twitter account used her video in promotional materials without her consent.
The developer of another Solana project, sanctum, @soleconomist, rarely made a direct comment, questioning 1intro’s confusing project introduction:
“1INTRO is redefining the financial ecosystem on Solana with an intelligent platform that uses AI to improve liquidity bootstrapping pools (LBPs), DEXs, and token deployments, thereby enhancing user experience and operational efficiency. By significantly improving and simplifying our services, AI ensures a smooth, enlightening, and secure journey for our users.”
At the same time, he also believes that such a project introduction is suspected of randomly applying the concept of AI, and bluntly said, "What the hell does this mean? It's simply nonsense."
First, the KOL round chips were too low, and then the makeshift team had all sorts of problems with the promotion and marketing. In the midst of a public opinion storm, only the unsalable LBP was left in a mess.
However, finding KOLs to promote your product is not something that should be overlooked.
For crypto projects, from planning to listing, some early chips must be sold, either to VCs in exchange for financial support, or to KOLs in exchange for greater marketing influence.
Current crypto projects seem to have gradually realized that KOLs’ voice is gradually increasing in the new cycle, which is more helpful for project marketing. It is understandable to share part of the profits with KOLs, but in economic design and publicity, it is also necessary to jointly consider the feelings and interests of all parties.
LBP was launched with a high valuation, there were frequent loopholes in publicity and promotion, and KOL’s paper profits were too high. After a round of bull and bear education, the leeks are not fools and naturally will not be willing to take over.
Finally, the Chain Detective also summarized several key points of 1intro’s failure, which are enough for the leeks to use as a negative teaching material and a guide to stepping on landmines:
The account has just been created, but the number of followers is particularly large
Little interaction with the Solana ecosystem
Each KOL comments in the comment section
Lack of technical documentation
I borrowed the name of the well-known Defi project 1inch
Token unlocking period is too short
For players, do not touch projects that meet the above conditions; for project parties, do not make mistakes that meet the above conditions.