I deeply appreciate what the Jupiter team has built—a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana, remarkable technology, and a passionate community. However, as an investor and supporter, I see substantial issues in the project’s strategy, particularly around the management of the $JUP token, the DAO’s effectiveness, and the misleading narratives put forward by the team.
Below, I outline core areas where, in my view, the team’s messages and actions are misaligned, misleading, or simply problematic:
1. Misleading Token Economics and Supply Overhang
Issue:
The Jupiter team consistently downplays the massive token supply problem. Even after burning 3 billion tokens, 7 billion tokens remain—many still not in circulation. Each token unlock puts heavy selling pressure on the market, undermining price stability and investor confidence. Yet the team promotes the narrative that supply is manageable and that the burn solved major issues, which isn’t accurate.
Misleading Narrative:
The team claims burning tokens demonstrates their commitment and generosity, but in reality, they mainly protected the value of their personal holdings, salaries, and future bonuses. This is not community-driven altruism—it’s basic economic self-interest.
2. Governance: DAO as Decoration
Issue:
Jupiter’s team frequently emphasizes “meaningful governance” and “real DAO power,” but the truth is, the DAO currently has minimal meaningful influence. All significant proposals—such as Meow’s 2030 lock-in or tokenomics decisions—are carefully drafted by the team, offering the DAO a choice between equally limited or unattractive options.
Misleading Narrative:
Claiming the DAO holds “real power” is disingenuous when community members cannot genuinely propose meaningful changes themselves. The DAO is more of a marketing tool than a governing body, used to create a sense of ownership while retaining real power within the team.
3. Token Utility and Real Value: Missing Entirely
Issue:
Despite grand claims of the token’s crucial role, JUP has virtually no meaningful utility. Staking provides no direct financial reward or platform perks beyond additional JUP tokens—which is just dilution dressed up as reward. There’s currently no link between Jupiter’s business success and JUP holder returns.
Misleading Narrative:
The team describes JUP as a vital alignment tool, but what exactly does it align? It does not connect the community’s financial interests with Jupiter’s real success or revenues. It primarily serves to keep investors holding tokens out of speculative hope, not genuine incentive or value.
4. Revenue and Transparency Concerns
Issue:
Meow claims Jupiter has around $150 million in assets (mostly from initial token sales), describing financial stability without VC funding as a virtue. In reality, Jupiter raised substantial funds directly from the community’s own pockets, avoiding transparency typically required by venture capital.
Misleading Narrative:
Celebrating the lack of VC investment as independence overlooks accountability. Without clear financial disclosures—how money is spent, exact revenue streams, operational costs, and salaries—the community is left guessing. Transparency audits of tokens don’t reveal how actual funds (USDC) are managed or spent.
5. Litterbox and Strategic Reserve: Misleading Token Recycling
Issue:
The Litterbox initiative, presented as a strategic reserve funded by Jupiter’s revenues, sounds beneficial—until it becomes clear these bought-back tokens are not being removed from circulation permanently. Instead, the tokens bought with protocol revenues are typically redistributed as salaries, bonuses, or payments for content creators, thus creating continual sell pressure.
Misleading Narrative:
Positioning Litterbox as a deflationary or supportive mechanism is misleading. It’s essentially token recycling—not real buybacks and burns. Ultimately, this just shifts tokens around without addressing fundamental supply issues or providing genuine value to holders.
6. “Grow the Pie” Narrative: Pushing Marketing over Utility
Issue:
The team frequently frames dilutionary activities like Jupuary or aggressive airdrops as “growing the pie.” Yet this merely expands short-term speculative interest rather than sustainable growth. More tokens in more hands without meaningful utility or organic demand leads inevitably to further price drops, not stable growth.
Misleading Narrative:
The message that massive token giveaways build long-term community strength obscures the real effect: increasing holder count temporarily boosts the appearance of activity but erodes long-term token value. True growth requires actual product utility and a compelling economic reason to hold the token—not endless dilutionary distributions.
7. Team and Community Alignment: Broken Promise
Issue:
Despite repeated claims of alignment between team, token holders, and community interests, reality contradicts these assertions. The team benefits directly through large token allocations, salary payments, and clear financial upside. Token holders receive speculative tokens that steadily lose value through dilution and unlocks.
Misleading Narrative:
The notion of “alignment” suggests a shared fate. But when holders’ primary benefit is speculative hope and team members enjoy guaranteed salaries and generous token allocations, alignment becomes an illusion. Token holders bear the market risk, while the team benefits regardless of the token’s actual market performance.
8. The 2030 Proposal: Breaking the 50/50 Commitment
Issue:
The controversial 2030 Proposal shifted 220 million JUP from the DAO treasury to Meow personally, changing the initial 50/50 split and severely weakening DAO’s future influence. This decision was portrayed as aligning Meow’s long-term interests with Jupiter—but it primarily diluted DAO holdings and effectively broke trust.
Misleading Narrative:
Characterizing the 2030 Proposal as a neutral or beneficial act of long-term alignment is profoundly misleading. The DAO was offered two equally unfavorable choices—both leading to dilution—and the community treasury ended up paying Meow directly. This undermines trust and suggests the DAO treasury is vulnerable to future team-driven demands.
** A Call for Genuine Change**
This is not a critique intended to cause FUD. It’s a heartfelt call for clarity, honesty, and genuine change. Jupiter’s community deserves respect, transparency, and authentic alignment between holders and the team. Token holders need genuine utility, real financial rewards tied to the protocol’s success, and meaningful governance rights—not token giveaways or diluted voting power.
To restore trust, the team must:
- Introduce meaningful JUP utility (fee-sharing, platform benefits, genuine burns).
- Enable true, community-driven DAO governance.
- Provide full financial transparency (real revenues, USDC balances, clear accounting).
- Align team and community interests honestly, with shared risk and reward.
Only through genuine transparency, real utility, and authentic empowerment of the DAO can Jupiter live up to its decentralized promise and maintain the trust and support of its community.
Current Problem: Governance Alone Isn’t Enough
While governance is often highlighted as the central utility of JUP, it provides limited practical value. Holders can vote, but only on proposals carefully curated by the core team. This restricts the DAO’s actual influence and makes staking feel symbolic rather than financially rewarding or practically beneficial.
JUP’s current value largely relies on speculative interest, with its future token releases creating persistent selling pressure. Each new unlock adds uncertainty, reducing investor confidence and incentivizing short-term speculation over genuine commitment. Simply put, holding JUP right now does not provide tangible, day-to-day benefits—leaving the token vulnerable to constant volatility.
Needed Solution: Real Utility & Financial Incentives
To transform JUP from a speculative asset into a genuinely valuable token, we need mechanisms that reward long-term holders and directly link Jupiter’s success with holder benefits. Below, I propose practical solutions to achieve this:
1. Staking Tiers with Real Platform Benefits
Create clear staking tiers that provide tangible benefits on the Jupiter platform. For example, users who stake certain amounts of JUP should gain trading fee discounts, early access to new features, or enhanced lending and borrowing rates. By connecting staking directly to daily usage advantages, JUP becomes a critical part of the user experience, similar to successful models like BNB or FTT.
2. Revenue Sharing (“Real Yield”)
Introduce a clear revenue-sharing model where a portion of Jupiter’s fees are regularly distributed back to JUP stakers, ideally in a stablecoin like USDC or through token buybacks. Sharing real revenue directly aligns holders’ interests with the protocol’s performance, offering true financial incentives beyond token emissions alone.
3. Implement Token Buyback-and-Burn
Consistently use a portion of protocol revenue to purchase and burn JUP tokens from the market. Regular buybacks transparently address supply concerns and create upward pressure on token value by actively reducing circulating supply. This practice reassures holders that ongoing platform success directly benefits them.
4. Genuine DAO Empowerment
Empower the DAO by allowing community members to propose and vote on meaningful governance decisions—especially token utility and economic policies. Granting the community genuine governance rights signals trust and builds a stronger sense of collective ownership and responsibility for Jupiter’s long-term success.
Why These Changes Matter
Implementing these solutions turns JUP holders into true stakeholders. It transforms the token into something valuable not just for speculative potential, but for tangible, everyday utility and revenue generation. Holders who directly benefit from Jupiter’s growth become loyal advocates rather than short-term speculators.
Real utility and financial incentives help stabilize and grow token value sustainably. It aligns incentives for holders, community builders, and the team, creating a mutually beneficial cycle of growth, value creation, and platform adoption.
Concrete Demands for the Team and Core Working Groups:
Given these ongoing concerns, I explicitly demand that the Jupiter team and DAO-funded Core Working Groups immediately take the following actions:
- Introduce Genuine Token Utility:
- Implement clear staking tiers with benefits like trading fee discounts, priority platform access, and enhanced rates.
- Establish transparent revenue-sharing mechanisms (real yield) distributing protocol fees to stakers, ideally in stablecoins like USDC.
- Regularly execute genuine token buyback-and-burn programs to reduce supply and support token value.
- Empower Real DAO Governance:
- Enable community members to freely propose significant governance decisions, particularly related to economic policies and token utility, without reliance solely on the team’s preselected choices.
- Ensure Complete Financial Transparency:
- Provide full, transparent accounting of revenues, operational expenses, salaries, and financial reserves clearly to the community.
- Align Interests Honestly and Equitably:
- Develop transparent, fair compensation models that genuinely tie team incentives to long-term token performance and community success, not solely internal economic benefit.
Immediate Action Required:
I demand the Jupiter team and Core Working Groups (funded by the DAO) immediately draft these proposals clearly, explicitly, and put them forth for community voting. The narrative that our voices matter must be matched by action—no more symbolic gestures.
Stop misleading the community, give $JUP real purpose, and truly empower your stakeholders.
) my BBBwishes!!