Ryan Backus

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Ryan Backus

Ryan Backus

@RealBackus

Building @Zerg_app | Crypto ops veteran and former onchain detective Speculation isn’t the problem. Bad systems are.

Katılım Aralık 2025
53 Takip Edilen1.4K Takipçiler
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
> be me > 2015 > trading gold in WoW for real money > realize internet money already exists, find bitcoin > started taking part in ICOs, and realized I belong there > bought air jordans for 2 BTCs (my bitcoin pizza story) > learned the hard way that ETH, ETC are not the same thing > joined @CelsiusNetwork, witnessed the company grow from approximately $500M to $30B, then collapse to zero. > post FTX crash, did investigative work related to FTX > reconstructed financials from scratch > analyzed top 100 token distributions > arrived at the same conclusion every time > speculation is inevitable > most crypto apps are casinos, pretending otherwise makes them worse > 2025 > founded @Zerg_App, to give the game better rules
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
Most launches today fail to retain users because they are optimized for one thing only: attention. At ZERG, we’re trying to solve that differently. Every action on the platform earns XP: - Buying boxes - Launching offerings - Staying active - Participating consistently That XP will determine future rewards and benefits across the ecosystem. So instead of users extracting and leaving, they have reasons to keep participating, keep earning, and keep progressing over time. Retention has always been one of crypto’s biggest problems. We think the next phase of launches should focus on solving that, not just creating more hype.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
Yeah,that usually ends badly due to weak conviction on both sides. You are reacting to noise and hoping momentum saves you instead of having conviction. A lot of current launch mechanics reinforce this behavior too, which is part of why we are focused on stronger retention and participation loops at @Zerg_App instead of pure short-term rotation farming.
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𝖒𝖎𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖊
𝖒𝖎𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖊@miragemunny·
be careful with over-rotating; what is leading the market now is leading for a reason don’t try to get slick with it (you’re not that guy, pal) let it cook!
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
Yep, most retail users are competing against insiders, snipers, private groups, and wallets with way better positioning from the start. What we are trying to do at @Zerg_App is reduce that gap through broader distribution, anti-snipe mechanics, refunds, and probabilistic allocation instead of pure speed wars.
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The Wolf Of Crypto Streets
Most people do not have any edge in this market No insider groups or information, no fnfs, no followers, no private groups or any other advantages It’s just them against the market every single time with all of the odds against them I hope you win so much & change your life.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@GordonGekko Hard to build real conviction when everyone assumes a small group already owns the best part of the chart before you even arrive. A big part of what we are doing at @Zerg_App is trying to make launches feel participatory again instead of purely extractive.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
Yeah the problem is most launches are designed for early extraction now. A few wallets get insane entries, everyone else FOMOs higher, then gets dumped on. That is a big reason we built @Zerg_App around broader distribution, refunds, cashouts, and anti-snipe mechanics instead of pure speed-based launches.
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gainzy
gainzy@gainzy222·
Stop buying the “new shiny object” Someone’s sitting on a 6 figure 10x+ made over the last week just itching to dump on you It’s a rigged game and you’re the exit liquidity Buy older coins that have already distributed with no predatory supply overhang and a strong narrative
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@sjdedic Airdrops were very good at getting users in the door, but terrible at keeping them there. That is a big part of why we built @Zerg_App around ProbFi and gamified participation loops designed to keep users engaged beyond day 1 extraction.
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Simon Dedic
Simon Dedic@sjdedic·
The best thing happening in crypto right now that nobody talks about: Airdrops are dying. The fact that we spent years paying people to pretend to be users and then wondered why every token dumped -90% after TGE will be one of those ridiculous things where people look back in hindsight shaking their heads. Now projects are finally forced to stop optimizing for their token and actually focus on building a product that people want. This gives us real users, real demand, real retention. Even if some metrics on paper might not look as exciting as they did a few years ago based on fake data, this is probably the most bullish shift this industry has made in years, because it’s real. And the best part: we’re finally getting rid of all the pseudo builders and fake users who were only here to extract as much as they could. That alone should create a positive feedback loop that lifts the entire industry long-term. The industry is healing, even if it just doesn’t look like it on a chart yet.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
As of today, ZERG mainnet is live and officially in public beta. After months of building quietly, we’re opening up a new way for tokens to launch and distribute onchain. The current launch meta is optimized for speed and extraction. We think distribution deserves an upgrade. The trenches evolve from here. Come join the ZERG: zerg.app
Zerg.App@Zerg_App

ZERG Mainnet Beta is LIVE Huge thank you to our early community for helping us get here, and to @reforge_vc for supporting us during our pre-seed and believing in the vision early. The trenches evolve from here. Join the open beta today → zerg.app New to ZERG? Check out this guide 👇

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Ryan Backus retweetledi
Zerg.App
Zerg.App@Zerg_App·
𝗔 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗚 #𝟳: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗕𝗢 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲 An Initial Box Offering (IBO) is ZERG’s native way for creators to launch a new token. Instead of traditional token sales, your token is distributed through loot boxes that users purchase, each containing randomized rewards based on your configuration. You control: 💠Your token’s identity 💠How rewards are distributed 💠The scale and pricing of your offering 💠How you receive your earnings You can now launch a token on our public Beta on zerg.app
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
I think Launchpads need to stop competing purely on more volume and start actually fixing what's wrong with the current extractive launch structure to stay more relevant and sustainable That’s a big part of why we built @Zerg_App around probabilistic allocation, anti-bot/snipe mechanics, refunds on failed offerings, instant cashout liquidity, and broader distribution from the start.
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Faded | Clipur.com
Faded | Clipur.com@youfadedwealth·
Unrelated predictions, but launchpads are currently going through an identity crisis @Pumpfun pushed CCM, and then ICM, and now they’re strongest retail attraction is $TROLL a meme/IP play Does it make sense to continue to push those areas if the market clearly desires what it desires? I don’t know, I’m not an expert, but these are just objective observations They clearly have capital dominance, so at the end of the day, people who want to make money as deployers will go to the most liquid casino, every time There is nothing indicating that this will change anytime soon, social sentiment doesn’t matter when money dictates the markets / that’s just a fact @moonshot has a direct funnel to retail and coincidentally seems to have a very formidable GTM strategy on viral and news-trendy memes via web2 channels (the deployers see this as a good way of dual advertising the token and a direct way to buy them) @bonkfun had a very strong market share that was suppressed by coordinated FUD attacks (sponsored/paid, legitimate, or both? You decide); now it’s hard to see what it’s clear market segmentation is @BagsApp I have/had a lot of faith in, but I’ll be honest I think the team seems scattered. One moment they are trying to revive TikTok memes, the other moment they are slow-promoting the @BagsHackathon with ominous tweets, unclear deadlines, or objectives; I think people are tired of ‘claim the fees bros’ but the community support there is undying, ecosystem just needs fresh narratives, winners, and ‘king making’, otherwise a lot of the community and team efforts are scattered across different objectives
Faded | Clipur.com@youfadedwealth

My next bets 🔮 > Clipping > Streaming > Consumer Crypto > Privacy (as an alternative narrative, not as a practice, people are too lazy) I think @LucaNetz is/was 100% spot on with @AbstractChain thesis; it was just too early (changing soon tho) With $PENGU, @wallstreetbets support, @PudgyAsia and more, they arguably have the strongest foundation for this in the next bull run People (myself included) have been critics of their current onchain metrics but its competitive with @monad while raising maybe 1% and mainly being community backed @Pumpfun is/was early to this too, but operates with way too much recklessness, or atleast perceivable recklessness I know and have spoken to the team there, from the outside looking in, it might appear that they’re promoting creators like @ChudTheBuilder or Joker or Trevv or other forms of extreme content and degeneracy, but they’re not and have extremely high morales despite what the public thinks If they continue to go for the ICM/YC edgy alternative route, this all changes overtime @Solana will always be dominant for consumer crypto, I credit this to @JupiterExchange @phantom @MeteoraAG @Raydium and now they’re going for the @perps markets too The dark horses for consumer crypto is @monad with apps like @kizzymobile and @megaeth with apps like @Euphoria_fi Both ecosystems should heavily invest in using these products to define and expand the existing market as opposed to going for Solana sloppy seconds $ZEC as a privacy narrative is going to win off of social consensus (Ansem and Solana Foundation) $XMR wins off of practicality (this is what most scammers are already using)

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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@ZeMirch Newer traders are just used to pump-and-dump culture now, no one actually holds conviction and dca anymore. That’s a big reason we built @Zerg_App, to make launches feel fun and sustainable again instead of pure PvP extraction.
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Pepper
Pepper@ZeMirch·
the reason why ct sucks now is because most of the participants joined in 2024 to chase memecoins because they were going up and now they’re not and they don’t care about crypto so it’s just a bunch of guys who came here for green candles and we don’t do that very often anymore
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
You might want to check out @Zerg_App too. We spent the last year building around current pain points of bots, snipers, fragmented liquidity and low retention. ZERG offers probabilistic allocation, anti-bot/snipe mechanics, and gamified participation loops for stronger long-term retention.
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lesabre
lesabre@lesabrefomo·
some new things that have caught my eye recently - proof of useful work (nockchain, pearl) - v4 hooks (upeg, sato, + so much more) - gamified perps (offshore) exciting times
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@netz7e Well said. Now most launches are optimized for speed and rotations, so people trade the chart before they even know the narrative behind the meme.
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netz
netz@netz7e·
the peak days for the trenches were when we used to have to check the pumpfun threads to see what the coin was about. having to read through all the fud about bundles via trenchradar screenshots and people complaining about dex not being paid. communities rallied from those threads, people actually came together to push the narratives outside of the value of the token. $Myro - professional team run through the crypto bear market of 2023, pre trump days (biden days - volume was terrible iykyk) $SC - VC deleted after dev rugged, community used the “unfiltered chat” on pumpfun to create a new cto $Billy - launched and fully ran through threads. no telegram chat was created, people just throught the dog was cute. $Moondeng - viral article posts (one of the first twitter tracker runners) $Fartcoin - OG tek meta, where everything with the “tek” template would run $Michi - fully run through twitter via x raids and pfp changes (first pfp on X idea) $PNUT - twitter tracker play/extremely viral + elon musk interaction (first encounter of elon tweet) $Retardio - first nft project affiliated with solana ecosystem via schizo posting (mitch era) nothing will top the feeling during those typa days. CT was so much friendlier and it wasn’t just about flexing the money you made, but flexing the groups you were actually apart of. making money so you can buy a two thousand dollar image wasn’t stupid, cause it meant finding likeminded individuals.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
Infinite dilution and pure PvP metas eventually destroy conviction. People want narratives and communities they can actually spend time building around, not just 2-hour rotations before the next vamp launches. That’s also why we at @Zerg_App focus on launch/distribution mechanics for the long term growth.
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Anna (reality check arc)
people r crying they lost money bcs of PvP and meme dilution, and still bidding on PvP memes that can be diluted and vamped, instead of taking basically free trade with a little patience - pumpfun hackathon coins. @Pumpfun invested in all of them at 10m valuations. the meta can't be diluted, and @PumpfunEco clearly wants to push ICM meta on their platform clarity act soon passes, utility and especially AI coins will become extra hot yeah $opal coded tweet.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
This is part of the reason we built @Zerg_App, so untracked traders can have a fair real edge and not get farmed by raw speed and capital. We use a gamified loot boxes system that kills classic bot/sybil advantages, adds refund protection + pre-listing cashouts, and locks liquidity from the start. No more pure first-tx wars. Shifts the game from who’s fastest to who actually participates.
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shaams 🐂
shaams 🐂@shaams·
i'd say @clukz is one of the best catalyst traders onchain atm retail should strive to trade more like him as opposed to hodling community coins like Pow, or new pairing like Cented this style makes it way easier to control your outcomes and consistently improve as a trader also much lower downside compared to the other 2 styles. only con is you have to be online way more
shaams 🐂@shaams

Why I HATE community coins (watch in 2x speed) - Response to @_logjam about $TripleT (0:13) - Bad community coins (2:54) - Catalysts within community coins (4:57) - It's not 2024 anymore (7:51) - Pros of catalyst-driven trading (8:54) - Summary (10:12)

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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@ProofOfTravis LPing works if you actually believe in the token’s long-term volume. Organic trading fees from real activity can easily outweigh impermanent loss + opportunity cost over time with smart range management and conviction.
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Travis 💡
Travis 💡@ProofOfTravis·
I actually think LPing is one of the most strategically demanding ways to earn a good return. Aside from stable pairs, it’s usually a losing game due to impermanent loss or opportunity cost. You really gotta manage, plan and predict.
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@CrashiusClay69 that's what we're doing at @Zerg_App. we let the community vote for which tokens deserved to be launched, and refund the money if the voting doesn't reach the soft cap limit...perfect way to incentivise creators to build and retain communities
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Crash
Crash@CrashiusClay69·
Instead of PVP and fighting How about you vote with your money And let the chart do the talking No attacking any other coin.. or talking about any other version of a coin. Simply Bid. And let the charts talk. No more back and forth endless gay fighting Or you could just have IP rights like $TROLL and shit on everyone without even trying Btw tho.. IP rights on a SHIT coin.. is still a SHIT coin. Nobody gives a fuck you have IP rights on something trash But IP rights on the biggest meme… that hits different 69B
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Ryan Backus
Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
@anonchain everything for the attention economy, which partly makes every narrative so short-term now, because no one is supporting anything anymore unless they get instant profit
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anon
anon@anonchain·
CT was great before info-fi KOLs came in and tried to make everything woke and politically correct. You losers are the real frauds here. Go back to your day jobs, you’re too fragile to be terminally online.
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Ryan Backus@RealBackus·
We're on the same page there. We built @Zerg_App to make token launches easier to access and fairer for the general audience, even those who aren't familiar with crypto can jump in easily. Our platform also uses a luck-based gacha system to make it fun, while also adding in an XP progression system to make it a more long-term play for users Let me know if you want to check it out. DM @RealBackus
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Kohei
Kohei@weretuna·
I launched a new crypto game. It failed. Last year, our game @addicteddotfun did ~$4M rev. Big win. Our takeaway: if we wanna build something bigger, it has to last longer. Addicted was: luck-based gacha + farming. short dopamine loops fast burnout So we went the opposite direction. More depth. More strategy. More “real game.” That became @pussycattech a new cat breeding game on @solana Each cat has 32 DNA traits and your goal is to discover hidden recipes and breed rare cats before anyone else. We launched last week. Result? It flopped. Here’s 2 reasons why it failed: 1. Too complicated We replaced luck with analysis. Big mistake. Main feedback we recieved was: “this game is too complicated.” In crypto, nobody reads. The easier it is to understand, the easier it is to bet. “buy low, sell high” There’s a reason memecoins and perps are the most popular game in crypto rn If someone can’t get it in 5 seconds, they won’t play. We overcomplicated. 2. Weak concept Concept > mechanics. Our previous games: @infecteddotfun → “onchain pandemic” @addicteddotfun → “sell drugs onchain” Both instantly clickable and attention grabbing one liner But: Pussycat → “onchain cat breeding” No punch. No “WTF.” No viral hook. If your one-liner (in text) doesn’t hit, nothing goes viral. Its like a thumbnail + title game on youtube We didn’t spend enough time on that and focused on the wrong side of the app. Next up: @Jaileddotfun This isn’t the end. We’re rolling everything into jailed. 1 - Dead simple mechanics 2 - Max dopamine loops 3 - Strong, viral concept (already pulled 1.5M views) Jailed will go insane. way bigger than addicted Launching soon. Watch @Jaileddotfun
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