DeFiance Capital Founder Compares Altcoin Market to a ‘Lemon’s Market’

As anticipation builds for a possible altcoin season, investor sentiment stays conflicted amid rising issues over the standard and transparency of many newly listed tokens.

Whereas some merchants are positioning for an upside in smaller-cap digital property, skepticism is mounting across the growing variety of questionable altcoins showing on centralized exchanges.

These tokens, usually backed by little greater than hype or obscure groups, are elevating purple flags throughout the business.

Altcoin Market High quality Declining

DeFiance Capital founder Arthur Cheong, for one, has raised critical issues in regards to the transparency of the liquid crypto market in a latest tweet. He highlighted what he sees because the rising drawback of undisclosed collaboration between crypto tasks and market makers, which can end in artificially sustained token costs.

In a latest tweet, Cheong warned that this lack of transparency makes it tough to differentiate between natural market exercise and worth manipulation. He additionally criticized centralized exchanges (CEXs) for ignoring these practices, which he believes are eroding belief within the altcoin market. Cheong even mentioned that the present panorama is much like a “lemon’s market,” the place investor confidence is quickly declining.

Moreover, he identified that the majority token era occasion (TGE) listings this yr have seen costs collapse by 70-90% shortly after launch, which has left traders with huge losses. He referred to as for main business gamers to take motion and warned that with out reform, a good portion of the market would stay uninvestable.

MANTRA’s OM Token Controversy

The founder’s feedback come at a time as MANTRA’s OM token skilled a pointy decline, shedding over 90% of its worth in only a span of an hour on April 14th. The occasion reignited fears of insider buying and selling and tokenomics manipulation.

The change highlighted main alterations to OM’s tokenomics since October 2024 and flagged uncommon buying and selling exercise from associated pockets addresses relationship again to March.

The OM token crash provides to a rising record of failed or troubled crypto property, a development that has solely intensified over the previous decade. Based on crypto pockets supplier Tangem, from 2013 to 2025, over 12,000 cryptocurrencies have failed, whereas a complete of 12,383 cash have develop into defunct. The principle causes behind these failures vary from low buying and selling exercise and mission abandonment to scams and failed ICOs.