You keep hearing the buzz—retail investors are finally entering the crypto space. But here's what actually happened. The only retail participation we've really seen is basically meme coin gamblers on platforms like Pump Fun, chasing the next moonshot with little understanding of what they're doing. Everyone talks about institutional adoption and retail waves, yet the reality is far more sobering. Most retail capital flows into the same speculative channels, chasing hype rather than building genuine market depth. The promise of mainstream adoption keeps getting hyped up, but actual sustained retail involvement? Still largely a narrative rather than a market reality. Until we see genuine long-term participation beyond meme coins and pump-and-dump mechanics, the retail wave remains more theory than practice.