Red flag
Insider-heavy supply
Founders and early backers hold most of the tokens, often at a fraction of the public price. When their lockups end, they sell into you.
I have helped build blockchains from the inside. I know how the scams are put together, who gets paid, and why most tokens are designed to go to zero. On Chain is where I break it down, and point to the small slice that's actually real.
Most scams in crypto aren't clever. They use the same handful of moves over and over. Once you can see them, you can't unsee them.
Founders and early backers hold most of the tokens, often at a fraction of the public price. When their lockups end, they sell into you.
Influencers get tokens or cash to hype a launch, then exit while their followers are still buying.
Wash trading and bots make a dead token look busy so it can climb the rankings and attract real buyers.
A whitepaper, a roadmap, and a community, but nothing anyone actually uses or pays for.
Guaranteed yield, staking rewards paid from new deposits, or anything that sounds like a sure thing.
Anonymous teams, offshore entities, and no one you could ever hold responsible when it collapses.
The projects worth your attention tend to share the same traits. None of them guarantee a price. They just separate builders from sellers.
Most crypto influencers have never built anything on chain. They're paid to talk about it. I've been on the building side.
I'm a co-founder of the Sovren Network and Optio blockchains, and a co-founder of Sovren Technologies, which runs blockchain infrastructure alongside cloud, payments, and social platforms. I've spent more than 25 years as a founder, operator, and CEO.
That means I know how token launches are structured, how supply and unlocks are designed, and how hype gets manufactured. I use that to show you what to avoid, and how to tell the difference when something is actually built to last.
Short breakdowns you can use, whether you're brand new to crypto or you've been burned before.
Nothing on this page or on On Chain channels is financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. I don't tell people what to buy or predict prices. I am a co-founder of the Sovren Network and Optio blockchains and of Sovren Technologies, and I may hold digital assets, including ones connected to projects I discuss. When I talk about a project I have a stake in, I'll say so. Always do your own research and talk to a licensed professional before investing.