Recently, a wave of Telegram bot projects has opened the door to many unexplored, easy, and fun airdrops. The ultimate goal? Making the Web3 experience accessible to everyone and bringing Web2 users into Web3. Unfortunately, things quickly descended into chaos, and Hamster Kombat emerged as the perfect example of this scam.
Hamster Kombat is not the only project facing a massive backlash. Projects that fail to meet user expectations often become targets of criticism. But Hamster Kombat stands out in one key aspect: the scale of the manipulation and the number of users involved.
The hype
When Hamster Kombat was first announced, it seemed like just another Telegram clicker game. However, the team designed and marketed it so well that it attracted massive attention. Within just a few weeks, Hamster Kombat even surpassed Bitcoin in popularity on Google Trends, with a massive increase in search traffic.
This is just part of the story. Hamster Kombat has become one of the fastest growing tech platforms, with 150 million users on board. To date, over 300 million addresses have interacted with the game via the Telegram mini-app. Interestingly, this coin is also generating more buzz than Hamster Kombat
The hype was so great that not even bearish market news could stop it. YouTubers jumped at the chance, and even non-crypto influencers posted about the project. Some creators specifically dedicated themselves to Hamster Kombat daily updates and price predictions, and that's where the real trouble began.
Manipulation
The manipulation began as soon as the masses flocked to the game. Influencers werenât just selling price predictions or daily updates, they were selling dreams. People started dreaming about Hamster Kombat being worth $1-$5, and the manipulation only grew.
It was all a psychological game. Most Hamster Kombat users were new Web3 participants and had little to no understanding of how projects work or how prices are determined. Instead, they trusted the influencers and believed their price predictions. This coin is also predicted to grow 5x this month
In many South Asian countries, Hamster Kombat became a dream. Social media influencers blindly sold this dream to their followers, who believed every word. It was inevitable that 90% of users were disappointed after the airdrop announcement, as the project simply failed to meet their unrealistic expectations. You can create your own Memecoins in less than 5 minutes
The manipulators easily convinced 90% of the user base with these inflated promises, creating false hopes that the project would never come to fruition. The price was set before the Token Generation Event (TGE) and people believed in a dream, and that is where the scam really began.
The scam
Expectations for Hamster Kombat were sky-high, with many claiming it was the next Shiba Inu or PEPE, where users could win $1,000 and escape poverty. Most of Hamster Kombatâs 300 million users were newcomers to Web3, many of whom lacked even a basic understanding of crypto concepts like FDV (fully diluted valuation) and token supply.
These users, influenced by unrealistic expectations, worked hard to fulfill a dream they didnât understand. But after TGE and the airdrop, those dreams quickly fell apart, as expected. Millions of people were left disappointed, and their inflated expectations of the crypto world were dashed.
Suddenly, the project was branded a Ponzi scheme. Influencers began claiming that Hamster Kombat was a scam, not because it was inherently dishonest, but because it failed to live up to the impossible expectations that had been sold to the masses.
The lessons
Expectations are a delicate thing and become dangerous when they are unrealistic. 90% of Hamster Kombat users who felt scammed were simply not prepared for the reality. Onboarding Web3 should not set people up for failure. Cryptocurrencies and Web3 are not just about rewards. The Next Big Thing After Hamster Kombat
Users need to understand tokenomics before they start complaining about quote prices. Even if Hamster Kombat debuted at $1, it would be more valuable than Solana or USDT, but most airdrop holders would still be disappointed.
If you're new to the world of cryptocurrencies, going this route to get into Web3 may not be a good idea. Yes, there are rewards, but they often require more than a few taps and some mindless tasks. Web3 is an exciting and evolving world, but these types of projects only set a bad example for newcomers.
