Dev2Moon.wtf

During the pandemic, I first dipped my toes into DeFi, and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) became my entire world—a bustling hub of people, money, and opportunities. Yet, as time passed, the vibrancy of BSC and the broader Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem began to fade. Users shifted their focus to BTC inscriptions and Solana’s Pumpfun, chasing fairer ways to participate. In this article, I’ll share my personal journey, explore the rise and fall of BSC and the EVM ecosystem, analyze how a lack of fairness drove users away, and discuss what this trend means for the future of the market.

1. My Journey: BSC’s Golden Era and Decline

In 2020, I dove into DeFi with a passion for blockchain. BSC quickly became my go-to, thanks to its low costs, high efficiency, and thriving community. Back then, BSC was unstoppable—new projects launched daily, with single-day trading volumes often hitting tens of millions of dollars. The community buzzed with hope and energy. I genuinely believed BSC’s boom would last forever. But by 2022, the Fed’s interest rate hikes tightened market liquidity, and new project volumes shrank to mere hundreds of thousands—or less. Narratives grew stale, copycat projects flooded the space, and the once-vibrant community fell silent. Even CZ’s announcement of a $1 billion Binance fund to support the industry couldn’t reverse the tide. BSC missed its window to lead, as speculation overtook innovation, and the golden age faded.

2. The EVM Ecosystem’s Struggle: A Crisis of Fairness

BSC’s decline wasn’t an isolated case—it reflected a broader malaise across the EVM ecosystem. There’s no denying that EVM chains laid a solid foundation for the industry during their heyday, birthing countless valuable projects and solutions that still underpin today’s infrastructure. Yet, for ordinary investors like me, the EVM experience was far from friendly. We poured in enthusiasm and hard-earned money, studying whitepapers and joining communities, only to find traps at every turn:

• Tokenomics Traps: Opaque allocation mechanisms turned retail investors into bagholders.
• Contract Pitfalls: Buggy, vulnerable code left us defenseless.
• Airdrop and Permission Scams: “Free” rewards often hid insidious risks.
• Bad Actors Thrived: Ecosystem wreckers profited while retail investors suffered devastating losses.

Despite its technical strengths, the EVM ecosystem couldn’t hide its fairness deficit. User trust crumbled.

3. The Exodus: BTC Inscriptions and Pumpfun Take Over

As the EVM ecosystem failed to guarantee basic fairness, users sought alternatives. BTC inscriptions and Solana’s Pumpfun emerged as the new darlings, offering a fairer playing field:

• BTC Inscriptions: With their minting mechanism, inscriptions eliminated contract risks and rug pulls. Participation required money—no privileges, no traps. Though some questioned their value, the inscription craze pushed BTC past $60,000, drawing massive capital. I initially dismissed inscriptions and shorted BTC—only to be humbled by the market and join the frenzy myself. While the hype was fleeting, inscriptions planted a seed of fairness.
• Pumpfun: Built on Solana’s SPL standard, Pumpfun streamlined token issuance—permissions revoked, liquidity pools burned, all transparent. No technical expertise required; users could join with confidence. It ditched grand narratives for a raw PVP (player vs. player) model: launch a token, stir the pot, have fun. It’s honest chaos over hollow promises.

Shared Traits and Differences: Both inscriptions and Pumpfun prioritize standardized, transparent token issuance, minimizing traps and boosting fairness. Inscriptions lean on Bitcoin’s decentralization and low-entry appeal, while Pumpfun harnesses Solana’s efficiency and community-driven entertainment vibe.

4. The Quest for Fairness: The Driving Force of Market Evolution

Looking back, the pursuit of fairness has consistently shaped market evolution:

• ICO to IEO to IDO: From chaotic fundraising to platform-backed launches, then decentralized offerings—users kept seeking fairer opportunities.
• Inscriptions and Memecoins: Today, retail prefers simple, transparent plays over being sold “world-changing” stories.

Exchanges, chains, and projects often fleece investors while offering little protection. Where fairness exists, retail follows. This isn’t just a preference—it’s a consensus, and it’s the heartbeat of the memecoin supercycle.

5. The EVM’s Future: Fairness or Irrelevance

Even if CZ himself stepped in with his reputation and a war chest of funds, the EVM ecosystem’s trajectory would be hard to reverse. Its design inherently struggles to deliver fairness, often rewarding disruptors over builders. The future of EVM chains (BSC included) hinges on addressing these challenges:

• Technical Fixes: Reduce contract and permission risks.
• Mechanism Overhauls: Create transparent tokenomics.
• Community Revival: Rebuild user trust.

Without reform, EVM risks being eclipsed by fairer ecosystems.

6. Conclusion

From BSC’s peak to the EVM’s woes, and now the rise of inscriptions and Pumpfun, I’ve witnessed firsthand the unrelenting pursuit of fairness. This isn’t just investor awakening—it’s the market’s natural evolution. The EVM ecosystem once drove the industry forward, but if it can’t answer the call for fairness, its glory will remain a chapter in history.