2026-01-03 08:23:18

Why are big players in the traditional finance circle starting to pay attention to retail investor empowerment? A professional manager who has worked on Wall Street for 30 years and managed a U.S. publicly listed company has now shifted into the Web3 space, promoting retail investors' participation in the token ecosystem. What underlying trend does this reflect? Is it an inevitable step towards financial democratization, or is there a deeper meaning?

From traditional investment banks to decentralized finance, this transformation fundamentally touches on a core issue: how to enable ordinary investors to access equitable participation mechanisms and profit opportunities. Through community governance and token distribution, a new generation of projects is redefining financing logic — no longer one-way fundraising, but two-way value co-creation.

Recently, at an industry conference, several practitioners from traditional finance and Web3 fields engaged in a dialogue on this topic. The discussion covered: how retail investors can identify quality projects, the rationality of tokenomics design, and the role of community governance in the long-term development of projects. These in-depth exchanges offer investors new perspectives for thinking.

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gas_guzzler

· 18h ago

In plain terms, these Wall Street folks haven't just caught the scent of money; empowering retail investors sounds nice, but in reality, it's just a new way to cut leeks. No matter how fair token distribution is, it can't change the fact of information asymmetry; ordinary people still have the leeks' fate. If this move is truly "democratized," why does it seem like the big players are actually making more money? Bidirectional value co-creation? Ha, it sounds better than it works. No need to boast until it's actually implemented. The criteria for identifying "quality projects," brother, I haven't seen a standard that guarantees stable profits; it's all about luck and information gaps. Community governance sounds impressive, but voting rights are still probably in the hands of the big whales. Thirty years of Wall Street experience being used now to cut us—turnaround must be really quick.

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HodlVeteran

· 01-03 12:42

Bro, Wall Street big shots come to play with tokens, it's just them smelling the money. Don't be fooled by the word "empowerment." Retail investors recognizing quality projects? Ha, my bloody lessons over the years are that the more a project claims to be democratized, the more viciously they cut. 30 years of Wall Street experience now used to cut leeks—that's financial democratization... democratization to the point where everyone can lose money. It's either token distribution or community governance. Honestly, it's the same old story: you take the risk, they cash out. Nothing's changed. Looking at this trend, it's the prelude to the slaughter of 2018 again. All newcomers, buckle up. "Bidirectional value co-creation"—translated, it means you pay, they give ideas, and in the end, the money's gone but the ideas remain.

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ETH_Maxi_Taxi

· 01-03 08:53

Basically, it's just about wanting to scam retail investors. It's the same old wine in a new bottle.

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Tokenomics911

· 01-03 08:39

Basically, it's just a different way of saying "harvesting retail investors." "Empowering retail investors" sounds nice, but isn't it just trying to get us to take the fall?

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OnchainSniper

· 01-03 08:29

Wall Street tycoons come in and start talking about "empowering retail investors"? I laughed. Basically, they just need our money to take over. It's called "financial democratization" in nice words, but in reality, it's still the same old financing tricks, just with a Web3 skin. Tokenomics rationality? Ha, most project teams design it poorly themselves. How many can actually outperform? Instead of listening to their stories, it's better to read the K-line charts yourself. Don't be brainwashed by the "community governance" rhetoric. This wave indeed has opportunities, but you need to recognize who is harvesting whom, or you'll be the one getting harvested. The traditional financial capital logic is the same old story, just a different soup, and in Web3, it's still the same old way.

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