Synthetix Founder: Meme Coin Craze Echoes ICO Bubble, But There’s a Twist

• Synthetic founder Kain Warwick compared the similarities between ICO craze and meme coin frenzy.
• Warwick said that meme coins rose as a result of VC manipulation in the last market cycle.
• Warwick claims that influencers have played a key role in pushing scam tokens this cycle.

Kain Warwick, the Australian founder of Synthetix and Infinex, said the current meme coin frenzy reminds him of the initial coin offering (ICO) craze of 2017-2018. In a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter), the crypto entrepreneur talked about how similar the two events are, trying to get investors’ attention about market conditions. 

Meme Coins & ICOs: Born from Market Flaws?

Warwick pointed out that both trends, meme tokens and ICOs, came about because of structural inefficiencies in the industry—ICOs did well because of the high barriers of traditional fundraising, while meme coins have risen as a counter to venture capital (VC) manipulation in crypto funding rounds in 2021.

In Warwick’s view, the problem isn’t the meme coins themselves but the lack of control over how they are launched, which leads to a space dominated by bad actors. ICOs, he recalls, were ultimately shut down by regulators, which prevented further damage but also stopped innovation. However, meme coins are unlikely to face the same regulatory crackdown, which makes a unique opportunity for self-regulation possible within the ecosystem.

Related: Altcoins Revisit 2021 Rally Patterns; Market Eyes Next Breakout

Infrastructure Co-opted: The “Grifter Takeover” Playbook

One of Warwick’s main worries is that important infrastructure in crypto is being taken over by bad actors. He described a recurring cycle in crypto history:

• New financial mechanisms emerge (ICOs, DeFi, meme coins).
• Legitimate innovators experiment and create real value.
• Grifters see an opportunity and flood the market with exploitative projects.
• Retail investors get scammed.
• Regulators or market corrections step in, killing off innovation along with the scams.

He argues that with ICOs, paid influencers had a big part in pushing scam projects. Today, the same pattern is showing up with meme coins, where high-follower accounts are being paid to promote contract addresses (CAs), effectively running modern-day pump-and-dump schemes.

Crypto Community’s Call: Time for Self-Policing?

Warwick thinks that self-regulation is the only way forward. He suggested that the crypto community—especially in the Solana ecosystem, where meme coins are very common—must tell the difference between real innovation and exploitative schemes.

Related: Smaller Altcoins Are Grabbing Crypto Liquidity. Is This a New Market Power Play?

He suggested a platform that can track market awareness and offer a structured environment for fairer launches. He mentioned Kaito as a potential candidate, even though he knows that the challenge is convincing influential figures to adopt better practices.