Undercover in Ground Promotion Scam Online MLM Conference, I Learned These 8 Golden Rules
- Core Viewpoint: Against the backdrop of fluctuating BTC prices and limited market activity, "pump-and-dump" projects characterized by high price manipulation and ground promotion use a series of carefully crafted pitches to attract investors, with the core purpose of creating FOMO sentiment and seeking exit liquidity.
- Key Elements:
- Setting Astronomical Targets: Project teams often use grand market cap targets like "$5 billion" or "$100 billion" as promotional slogans, aiming to attract attention and capital inflow.
- Packaging "Altruistic" Motives: Beautifying promotional actions as "altruism," while the real intention is to expand the community and increase liquidity to facilitate the project team's eventual exit.
- Manipulating Holding Psychology: Using pitches like "Don't buy too much, afraid you can't hold," which both controls token distribution and incentivizes holders to become active promoters for the project.
- Downplaying Downside Risk: Describing price drops as "normal corrections" to stabilize community sentiment, prevent panic selling, and buy time for insiders to offload.
- Borrowing Authority Endorsements: Frequently mentioning concepts or platforms like "Nasdaq" or "Bitcoin's endgame," leveraging the halo of authority to enhance the project's credibility and attract ordinary investors.
Original｜Odaily（@OdailyChina）
Author｜Wenser（@wenser 2010 ）
As BTC is poised to return to $80,000, many "veteran" projects are also reviving with the help of online and offline grassroots promotion efforts.
In 2026, amidst the volatile ups and downs of the crypto market, it seems that grassroots promotion schemes and highly manipulated "meme coins" (for details, read: 《8 Days to Create a God, 1 Night to Liquidate: The Emotional Manipulation Playbook of Meme Coin RAVE》) have become the only two active project types in this erratic "monkey market". In light of this, Odaily reporters have transformed into "undercover agents", infiltrating grassroots promotion scheme project communities, online meetings, and offline events to gather information. Together with our readers, we observe how projects with tens of millions of dollars in market cap plant faith through various narratives.
Odaily hereby reminds readers that the following is merely observational and does not constitute investment advice. We strongly advise against imitation.
Golden Phrase One: First Target $5 Billion, Then $100 Billion in the Bull Run
Yes, the rhetoric of grassroots promotion schemes is always this simple, direct, and unadorned. They must make a strong impression from the start, overwhelming you with get-rich-quick slogans and astronomical figures.
Just like the classic line—"EOS will hit $1,000 after three waves"—regardless of whether the project's current market cap is $500k, $5 million, or $50 million, they first set a sufficiently large market cap target to attract all possible liquidity, onlookers, and capital.
It must be said, the weight of the phrase "The limit is not $5 billion for XX, but the limit of your imagination" continues to increase.
Golden Phrase Two: The World's Greatest Business Model—Altruism
Once upon a time, countless people revered Kazuo Inamori's "The Way of Living" as a guiding principle and regarded Steve Jobs' "creating value for others" as an inviolable rule.
Now, the term "altruism" is still used as a key banner for marketing and promotion by countless internet companies, startups, and even grassroots communities—
You ask me why I'm recommending this money-making project to you? For altruism!
You ask me why I'm telling you about this opportunity to make hundreds of thousands of dollars? For altruism!
You ask me why I'm sharing this once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rich that's right in front of me? For altruism!
What they won't tell you is that the reason for sharing the "wealth code" with you is to find more exit liquidity, to grow the scheme bigger, so they can eventually make a graceful exit themselves.
Golden Phrase Three: Don't Buy Too Much, Otherwise I'm Afraid You Won't Be Able to Hold
This is another classic line from grassroots promotion schemes that many are familiar with.
But in reality, the speaker isn't afraid you'll buy too much and can't hold; they have two concerns:
First, they worry that if you buy too much, having too many tokens is not conducive to price manipulation.
Second, they worry that you won't buy enough to reach the point where "your position determines your stance," lacking the motivation to actively cheerlead for the project.
Golden Phrase Four: This is Just a Normal Correction, Don't Be Afraid
Projects have their ups and downs, prices rise and fall, and grassroots promotion schemes are no exception.
Once the price drops, to avoid a selling stampede, community leaders of these schemes often need to steady morale. At this point, a simple "normal correction" can make many newcomers look up in awe to the veteran "big shots" who have seen countless projects.
Little do they know, behind the seemingly calm words of reassurance, these "big shots" might be frantically clicking the "Sell" button on their screens, terrified of being the last one holding the bag in this game of pass-the-parcel.
Golden Phrase Five: I Don't Want to FOMO Anyone, I Just Hope Everyone Seizes This Opportunity
When I heard a community leader from a grassroots promotion scheme utter this line during an online meeting at 11 PM, I knew her segment was about to end. Yes, this lady, speaking in not-so-fluent Mandarin, talked non-stop for nearly an hour in an online room of several hundred people, concluding with this golden phrase.
If I were a community newbie, hearing a community leader speak so frankly and plainly, I'd probably be impressed by their sincerity and the refreshingly straightforward approach.
It just goes to show, grassroots schemes have different tactics for different people. If you're hot-tempered and easily provoked, they use reverse psychology. If you're a soft-hearted pushover, easily swayed, they appeal to your emotions and reason, finally winning you over with an "open and honest" sincere attitude.
Golden Phrase Six: What Are You Afraid Of? Afraid of Getting Rich?
Yes, the previous phrase uses a reminder tone to make you FOMO involuntarily, while this one is the reverse psychology we mentioned earlier.
People always want to prove they are right and desperately avoid admitting their decisions were wrong. So, once there's sunk cost, many become like accomplices on a pirate ship, psychologically struggling to accept losses and the notion that "I was actually wrong."
At this point, if someone jumps out and challenges you, "Are you afraid of getting rich?"
Most people would react defensively to prove themselves: Tell the folks back home, I'm no coward, I'm going to buy more and pump the price!
Golden Phrase Seven: After Listing on Nasdaq, You Can Earn Over $10 Million Every Day, in USD!
At offline events, borrowing authority is another common tactic for grassroots schemes.
This authority could be a well-known industry expert or leader, a top-tier platform or famous project, or even "big platforms, big institutions, big channels" familiar to the general public.
After the DAT model and the concept of tokenized equity RWA gained popularity, Nasdaq and the NYSE have become frequently cited representative platforms for many grassroots schemes. As for whether the specific figure is $10 million or $20 million, does it really matter?
Golden Phrase Eight: Bitcoin is Just the Beginning, XX is the Ultimate Endgame
This is another common phrase used by grassroots promotion schemes, especially those in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The reason is simple. Bitcoin, as the representative major asset class in cryptocurrency, has now entered the mainstream, gaining visibility among the general public and major investment institutions, making it the perfect "anchor asset." Placing their project next to BTC allows them to bask in BTC's "wealth glow," much like the narrative told by the forked asset BCH in the past.
So, having read this far, can you now distinguish between grassroots promotion schemes and legitimate projects when you encounter community projects? If you have other classic phrases, feel free to share them with us.
