The parrot projects of Web3
All squawk, no flight
You’ve heard them.
Loud. Colourful. Repetitive.
Chirping about “revolution,” “decentralisation,” “community,” and “freedom” — again and again.
But when it comes time to fly — to ship real products, solve real problems, or onboard real people — they flutter, flail, and fall.
Welcome to the world of Web3 parrot projects:
Startups that mimic the language of innovation without the lift, the depth, or the follow-through.
For non-members, you can read the full story here.
Mimicry isn’t masteryParrots are brilliant mimics. They learn what to say by listening — not understanding.
They repeat what gets attention. But they don’t evolve the message.
In Web3, this looks like:
- “Decentralised” tokens with VC-heavy cap tables
- “Community-run” protocols with no governance
- Projects selling utility that doesn’t yet exist
- Forks of forks, “inspired” by last month’s flavour-of-the-week
The squawk is loud. But it’s still a cage.
Copy-paste culture scales faster than substanceEvery era in Web3 comes with its own meme factory.
But pump.fun has taken it to operatic levels — over 3 million tokens minted, and most exist for attention, irony, or pure memetic chaos.
Source: rsuthar94.Yes, there’s creativity. But also:
- No roadmap.
- No real community.
- No product beyond the ticker.
It’s the purest form of parrotism: colour and noise in endless loops.
This isn’t innovation.
It’s imitation at scale.
And while there’s space for fun, it’s also drowning out signal.
In the past, altcoin seasons came like spring — sudden, irrational, euphoric.
Narratives took root. A few hundred coins exploded on thin air and memes.
Now?
We’re flooded.
The sheer volume of tokens — thousands minted daily on meme factories like pump.fun — has suffocated momentum.
- Liquidity is scattered.
- Trust is burned.
- Narrative alignment is broken.
Pump.fun retained its dominance, producing over 50% of newly launched tokens on all platforms. Source: Dune Analytics.Retail doesn’t know what to buy. Institutions don’t know what’s real.
Even strong projects get lost in the squawk.
The signal that drives market cycles is now buried under noise.
This isn’t just a UX problem. It’s an economic one.
The tragedy of parrot projects isn’t just that they fail — it’s that they dominate the airwaves.
They hijack attention, clog timelines, and define the first impression for newcomers.
They teach new users that Web3 is chaos.
That every founder is a copy-paste machine.
That hype is the only true roadmap.
They don’t just stall their own growth — they erode trust in the entire ecosystem.
The other birds: Chimps and hawksParrots aren’t the only animal in this jungle.
There are chimps — brilliant, curious, chaotic. Always building. Always breaking.
They bring innovation, but not always product-market fit.
Then there are the hawks — visionary founders soaring ten years ahead of their users.
Sharp minds. Beautiful views.
But hard to follow without wings of your own.
Web3 has always had its fauna. The problem is: too many are flying solo — or not at all.
While the parrots squawk, real builders evolveNot all of Web3 is trapped in mimicry.
While parrots dominate the discourse, others are quietly building ecosystems that matter:
- DePIN projects like Helium are bridging blockchain with real infrastructure: networks, devices, and sensors in the physical world.
- DeFAI protocols like Hey Anon are experimenting with decentralised AI-driven finance — on-chain strategies, AI traders, and models that adapt and learn.
- AI agents like those from Rei Network offer glimpses of an internet powered by decentralised, autonomous intelligence — where users control the logic, not the cloud.
- DeFi continues to mature — more modular, automated, and permissionless than ever before.
These builders don’t squawk.
They ship.
They write docs instead of shitposts.
They create value instead of vibes.
And they’re carving a path forward for the next cycle — while the parrots screech for exit liquidity.
Final ThoughtParrots get attention.But flight takes more than feathers.
It takes structure. Lift. Navigation. Endurance.
It takes more than a roadmap. It takes resolve.
The next wave of Web3 adoption won’t be led by parrots.
It’ll be led by teams who know where they’re going — and have wings strong enough to get there.
Less squawk.
More signal.
Let the parrots chirp.
The rest of us have work to do.
References
99Bitcoins: https://99bitcoins.com/news/pump-fun-co-founder-tech-altcoins-are-just-meme-coins-with-vc-exit-liquidity/
CoinGecko: https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/how-many-cryptocurrencies-failed
MiTrade: https://www.mitrade.com/insights/news/live-news/article-3-632770-20250212
Venionaire Capital: https://www.venionaire.com/web3-outlook-2025-a-transformational-year/
The parrot projects of Web3 was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.