Solana’s China Tour Goes Spectacularly Wrong: A High-Profile “Lighting Up” of Lujiazui Nearly Left Them With Their Balls in a Twist
Web3’s funniest PR disaster of the year: Solana’s four-city tour of China promised to make a big splash, then backpedaled at lightning speed.
🎬 Act One: Flashy as Ever
Solana’s strategy seemed pretty clever: “Talk blockchain, not tokens.” It even opened an office in Shanghai and splashed out on a giant-screen ad in the Citigroup Tower in Lujiazui, “lighting up Shanghai’s skyline.”
The show of bravado was enough to make Binance’s CZ post an envious shout-out: “Wow, Solana can promote itself like this in China? We can’t do that with BNB! 🍋”
🎬 Act Two: A Sudden Change of Scene—Economic Crime Investigators Show Up
Maybe the giant-screen ad was too effective, and on top of that, a bunch of street-promotion and pyramid-scheme teams seized the opportunity to mislead people with claims of “official backing.” The event spiraled completely out of control—registrations quadrupled overnight, far exceeding the approved limit.
Then came the iconic moment: For a 9:30 a.m. event, eight or nine law enforcement officers showed up, and a crowd was kept outside for over an hour. The Shanghai event was urgently postponed; then the Beijing and Hangzhou events, along with the VIP dinner, were all canceled at lightning speed. A total wipeout.
🎬 Act Three: Official Damage Control and a Final Dig from CZ
Solana Foundation President Lily Liu rushed to post a damage-control message: “It wasn’t our fault—everyone was just too enthusiastic, and there were too many people. We had to postpone to comply with local requirements (sob).”
CZ, who’d been expressing envy earlier, immediately switched to mockery: “Well, it seems they really don’t understand local policies~🥱”
🎬 Act Four: A Repeat Offender
A closer look by onlookers revealed that this wasn’t Solana’s first time getting itself into a mess! In just one year, it had already run into trouble three times—in Shenzhen and twice in Shanghai. The official explanation was always the same: unsuitable venue, too many people, safety concerns. They just never said the word “regulation.”
They tried to use an official-looking banner to make a big splash and fleece retail investors, but nearly ended up in a ditch, chairs and all.
The secret to building tech in China is simple: keep your head down, work quietly, and make your money without a fuss. Get too flashy, and when the wind picks up, you can really throw your back out—or get your balls in a twist! $SOL $BNB
Web3’s funniest PR disaster of the year: Solana’s four-city tour of China promised to make a big splash, then backpedaled at lightning speed.
🎬 Act One: Flashy as Ever
Solana’s strategy seemed pretty clever: “Talk blockchain, not tokens.” It even opened an office in Shanghai and splashed out on a giant-screen ad in the Citigroup Tower in Lujiazui, “lighting up Shanghai’s skyline.”
The show of bravado was enough to make Binance’s CZ post an envious shout-out: “Wow, Solana can promote itself like this in China? We can’t do that with BNB! 🍋”
🎬 Act Two: A Sudden Change of Scene—Economic Crime Investigators Show Up
Maybe the giant-screen ad was too effective, and on top of that, a bunch of street-promotion and pyramid-scheme teams seized the opportunity to mislead people with claims of “official backing.” The event spiraled completely out of control—registrations quadrupled overnight, far exceeding the approved limit.
Then came the iconic moment: For a 9:30 a.m. event, eight or nine law enforcement officers showed up, and a crowd was kept outside for over an hour. The Shanghai event was urgently postponed; then the Beijing and Hangzhou events, along with the VIP dinner, were all canceled at lightning speed. A total wipeout.
🎬 Act Three: Official Damage Control and a Final Dig from CZ
Solana Foundation President Lily Liu rushed to post a damage-control message: “It wasn’t our fault—everyone was just too enthusiastic, and there were too many people. We had to postpone to comply with local requirements (sob).”
CZ, who’d been expressing envy earlier, immediately switched to mockery: “Well, it seems they really don’t understand local policies~🥱”
🎬 Act Four: A Repeat Offender
A closer look by onlookers revealed that this wasn’t Solana’s first time getting itself into a mess! In just one year, it had already run into trouble three times—in Shenzhen and twice in Shanghai. The official explanation was always the same: unsuitable venue, too many people, safety concerns. They just never said the word “regulation.”
They tried to use an official-looking banner to make a big splash and fleece retail investors, but nearly ended up in a ditch, chairs and all.
The secret to building tech in China is simple: keep your head down, work quietly, and make your money without a fuss. Get too flashy, and when the wind picks up, you can really throw your back out—or get your balls in a twist! $SOL $BNB