Roided Cat 🍣

Finally, @Clavicular0 and @sophieraiin are having some fun!

Thank you for your service. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors. @SonicLabs @AndreCronjeTech @michaelkong @matthewmadera and David Richardson.

Falling Tulip: The Tale of a Vulnerable Narcissist February 2022. After months of breathless anticipation, Solidly, a revolutionary DeFi primitive by none other than the legendary Andre Cronje, launched on Fantom. Within 24 hours, Solidly reached a staggering $2 billion in TVL. Greed and euphoria peaked. Degens were prrrrrrinting. 🤑 Little did they know... On March 6th, 2022, like a thunderclap in a clear blue sky, Anton Nell announced on Twitter: “Andre and I have decided that we are closing the chapter of contributing to the DeFi/crypto space. There are around ~25 apps and services that we are terminating on 03 April 2022.” [1] Reason? In 2022 no reason was given for Andre’s departure. Media outlets and people from the industry wondered if Andre was fed up with the toxic DeFi culture, just like in 2020. Back then, he ragequit once and almost a 2nd time a few months later. [2] [3] [4] In 2025 Andre claimed he left in 2022 because he faced legal challenges with the SEC. [5] Whether due to the toxic community or legal pressures, the common denominator in this double or triple ragequit is that Andre always left because of external factors. When Andre left Solidly, the consequences were catastrophic. Fantom’s TVL plummeted. For many, this was the end. But for Andre’s loyalists, it was only the beginning of the nightmare. “Andre isn’t a scammer. He didn’t rug. His only mistake was poor communication.” They were right. Check out this tweet from FantomFDN following Andre’s departure in 2022 [6]: “We're extremely grateful to Andre for all he did for crypto as a whole. However, Fantom isn't and never was a one man team. There are 40+ people working at Fantom.” But then... Andre claimed that he never really left. “My distance from Fantom was only from a public perspective,” Cronje told The Block on The Scoop podcast. “I was receiving so much bad press at that time that I thought it would negatively impact Fantom.” [7] If Andre really didn’t leave Fantom, the fact that the foundation posted a tweet suggesting that he did (see tweet [6] above) confirms that Andre is one of the top dogs, if not the top dog, at FantomFDN/Soniclabs and that he has authority over what gets communicated externally. Let’s recap: 1⃣ He ragequit in 2020, because of the toxic DeFi community. 2⃣ He hated the community in 2022 as well, but somehow his leaving was because of legal reasons. 3⃣ He left Fantom... oh well, he actually didn’t. He pretended he had left Fantom to protect them. Do you see what’s going on here? Andre takes on super ambitious projects, makes them viable, then quits. Each time he’s the victim. In his pseudo-departure from Fantom, he’s the good guy, the protector. Then came... MULTICHAIN ⛓️ When the first ominous signs emerged, the message from the FDN was simple: “Everything is fine.” A few weeks later, over $125 million across multiple chains were gone, seized by Chinese authorities. Another blow to Fantom and to Andre’s reputation. Again, not Andre’s fault. He had been deceived by Zhaojun, Multichain’s CEO and cofounder. Same pattern: shit hits the fan, bad communication, not Andre’s fault. FROM FANTOM 👻 TO SONIC 🦔 “We’re upgrading Fantom to Sonic. New database. Higher throughput. No hard fork required for the upgrade.” [8] A feeeew momentz lateeurr... Brace yourself, because this is a marketing gem. If you want to make everyone drool over your new product, this is how you do it (I’m being sarcastic): “Sonic will be used to create a new best-in-class shared sequencer for L1 and L2 chains, capable of processing over 180 million daily transactions with real, sub-second confirmation times, and serve as the foundation to relaunch Fantom as an entirely new community-centric brand. We are working diligently through an array of details and logistics that we look forward to sharing in the coming weeks and anticipate the new chain will launch in the late summer/early fall of this year.” [9] Translation: “We’re building a super complex bridge to Ethereum that no one asked for, and actually, we decided we need a hard fork.” In that same blog post [9], Sonic (the hard fork) was announced to “launch in late summer/early fall of this year.” On September 13th, 2024: “The launch of Sonic is scheduled for November/December 2024.” [10] Fair enough. Building a rocket ship is super complex and takes time. THE "AVAILABLE AT LAUNCH" OVERPROMISE ☑️ We announced our partnership with Silo, available on Sonic at launch. [11] ☑️ Frax is committed to deploying with natively issued assets on the Sonic tech stack Day 1 of launch! [12] ☑️ Beethoven X, Debita, and Thunder Dome will be on Sonic at launch. ☑️ Equalizer, PaintSwap, and SilverSwap will be on Sonic at launch. [13] When reading that list, what image does it paint in your mind? A vibrant amusement park full of degens, dapps and DeFi activity, right? Alas, at launch, Sonic was a desert. Although it’s not Andre’s fault that most of the projects weren’t ready at launch, I still blame him for the poor communication. As we’ll see later in this article, Andre doesn’t shy away from overpromising and being careless with launch dates. He’s the top dog at Soniclabs. He sets the culture. His communication style propagates through the organization and becomes the standard. FLYING TULIP: THE SAME PATTERNS 🌷 Now that Andre shifted his focus to Flying Tulip, the same patterns repeat. “I simply could not be public, but kept working tirelessly all these years, and it is why I am finally close to releasing my new primitives.” [14] And... “... then in the back-end, you know, I’d always kind of still been working on some of my new primitives. There’s a bunch of stuff I never launched: insurance stuff, AMM stuff, derivative stuff... and then with the new administration there’s now an opportunity to launch that again.” [15] Here’s a tweet from Andre [16]: “Sentiment check; I have about ~4 unreleased DeFi primitives; - Protection markets - LevX - fx*swap - On-chain Bureau Q1: Should I continue releasing all my shelved DeFi prototypes?” Let me repeat Andre’s wording to make my point clear: 🗨️ “close to releasing my new primitives.” 🗨️ “there’s now an opportunity to launch that again.” 🗨️ “I have about ~4 unreleased DeFi primitives.” When worded that way, what impression do you get? Based on these quotes, am I wrong to assume the primitives are almost finished and nearly ready to launch? Then came Andre with another twist: “If all goes well ~3 years, hope you all join for this journey.” [17] Implying that the completion of Flying Tulip will take at least 3 years and, based on our experience with Fantom and Sonic, probably more. Again, it’s not Andre’s fault. It’s ours. We misunderstood. “Close to releasing” is relative. For us degens, “close” means “in a few weeks.” For Andre, “close” means ~3 years. BLOCKING AND UNBLOCKING 🤐 Andre is famously known for blocking critics and following his defenders. Nothing wrong with that in itself. That’s what most X users do, right? But wouldn’t you expect a bit more tact and a thicker skin from the co-founder of the second-oldest EVM chain? If “Blocked by Andre” becomes a badge of honor, it says something about how over the top that behavior is. Now, his generous blocking could be seen as a quirk of his personality. “That’s just Andre.” But when Andre started unblocking everyone while shopping for investment money for Flying Tulip, and his tone suddenly became warmer and friendlier, that’s when the act turned manipulative and opportunistic. As someone on the receiving end of the blocking and unblocking, you’d probably think: “Oh, when you don’t like what I say, you block me. Now that you need money, you unblock me. Yeah, right buddy, go ef yourself.” ETF, DAT & SPAWN What about the Sonic ETF and DAT? Never delivered. Zero updates. But that’s Matt’s fault, not Andre’s. Matt was just a bit overenthusiastic. Same goes for Spawn, the “AI-powered platform that creates smart contracts and full-stack Web3 apps on Sonic using natural language, no coding required.” [18] Again, not Andre’s fault. Here’s why I mention them: Andre is/was Sonic’s top dog. He sits/sat at the top of the hierarchy. He determines the organizational culture. His beliefs, actions, decisions, habits, and communication style trickle down and shape the organization. ⛔️⛔️ Overpromising, exaggerating, shifting narratives, radio silence and disdain toward the community all became part of Soniclabs’ culture. ⛔️⛔️ AIRDROP 💸 Here's another one, a little cherry on the pie. Regarding the airdrop, remember when Andre said on a podcast: “The loyalists, I want to make them rich”? He never said: “The loyalists, I’m gonna make them rich.” So what are you complaining about, dummy? Sell and fuck off! THE PATTERN 🧐 When dealing with Andre, here’s what to expect: 1⃣ Grandiose plan. 2⃣ Gradually and subtly shifting the narrative around the plan. 3⃣ Delay. 4⃣ No explicit acknowledgement of the delay, no “sorry for the delay.” Just setting a new date as if nothing happened. 5⃣ Once the plan is executed and the goal more or less achieved (or not), Andre distances himself from the project. 6⃣ When Andre distances himself, he’s hostile, angry, hurt and deeply disappointed. 7⃣ Prolonged absence and total silence. 8⃣ Andre returns with another grandiose plan. 9⃣ Gradually and subtly shifts the narrative again. 🔟 Repeat. In each of these steps, Andre is never to blame. If something goes wrong or if he decides to quit, it’s because of external factors. WHAT ABOUT YOU? 🫵🤨 You, my fellow degen and Andre nuthugger... You feel frustrated, disappointed, and confused. You end up poor. And it’s your fault, because you misunderstood and had the wrong expectations. Honestly: ❓ How often have you swung between hope and frustration? ❓ How often have you thought, “Huh? Did Andre really say that or am I going crazy?” ❓ How often have you doubted your own memory about Fantom, Sonic and Andre? ❓ How often did that little voice in your head whisper, “It must be me. I must have misunderstood”? ❓ How often did you make excuses for Andre? ❓ How often did you rationalize his toxic behavior: “Andre’s a genius. He knows what he’s doing. He’s playing 4D chess”? ❓ After all the red flags over the years, how hard is it for you to finally sell and move on? Be honest. It's hard, isn't it? (Some of you became even more die-hard followers.) You know what this is? 💀 Hero worship. 💀 Cult of personality. 💀 Trauma bonding. 💀 Stockholm syndrome. Let’s once again list our hero’s behaviors: 🚩 Rage quitting. 🚩 Blaming others. 🚩 Grandiose plans and the discarding afterwards. 🚩 Shifting messaging. 🚩 Explicit disdain for his followers. 🚩 Being completely off the radar for months. 🚩 Following the loyal, blocking the critical. 🚩 Unblocking the critical when looking for investors. You know what these are? These are the traits of a vulnerable narcissist. Wake up. Seriously... 💡 If he’s such a genius, don’t you think he’d know it would be a much better strategy to maintain good relationships with his followers, fans, and investors? 💡 If he’s such a genius, don’t you think he’d finally realize that “the toxic DeFi community” is just “humans acting in a certain way in a certain context,” and that he should adapt to that environment? 💡 Don’t you think it would be better PR not to block, unblock, and reblock his loyal fanbase? 💡 Don’t you think it would be a better 4D chess move to be more careful with launch dates and phrases like “unreleased,” “close to releasing,” and “launch that again”? 💡 Don’t you think not ragequitting would be better for Andre’s reputation and trustworthiness? Considering his past, how do you think the Flying Tulip saga will unfold? “It’s his magnum opus! He’s a genius. He learned from his mistakes.” Again, wake up! Andre is a genius, but he’s not stronger than his demons. Andre’s intelligence will not override his personality flaws. Yes, there will be periods of compensation, when he seems less sensitive and dark-mooded. But in times of stress, when things don’t go his way, when the plan doesn’t unfold as expected, his demons will resurface. That’s the nature of personality. Personality is relatively rigid and stable across time and space; the same behaviors and reactions will recur under different circumstances and environments. Andre will remain Andre. Let’s end on an optimistic note. Imagine the best-case scenario. Imagine Flying Tulip becomes a huge success and makes the loyalists rich. Based on Andre’s history, do you really think he’ll finally retire on a high note, feeling complete, grateful, and fulfilled? Or will he fall into the worst post-achievement depression he’s ever experienced... ... and quit again? Whatever the answer, the playbook remains the same: Don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose, certainly not in Andre. And Andre, if you read this... ... block me @sticoin and fuck off! Red Goglz ~ Stay curious, not serious

I'm not an expert but Ive been looking at crypto startups for 5 straight years now 99% of cases your "marketing problem" is that you built something no one needs, you're bad at product hard pill to swallow the only marketing problem in crypto is that it's mostly marketing