What is the real thing? Conor McGregor’s staking memokine explained
Also known as “Notorious,” Conor McGregor is an Irish mixed martial artist born in Dublin on July 14, 1988. He is renowned for his achievements in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Beyond his combat career, McGregor launched his whiskey brand, appropriate No. 12, in 2018, named after his Dublin roots.
He harnessed the reputation of the UFC to sell a blend of triple distiles. In 2021, McGregor sold a majority of its stake to Proximo Spirits, selling it for an estimated $600 million, but it maintained its important role.
In April 2025, McGregor expanded into the Crypto Market by introducing a MemeCoin called “Real.” Promising to change the world of crypto, the digital token was launched through sealed bidding auctions to prevent interference from bots and snipers.
Developed in collaboration with Real World Gaming (RWG) Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), The Real Memecoin offers it to holders who retain compensation and voting rights within its ecosystem.
What happened during the actual Memocoin fundraiser?
McGregor was aiming to use real Memecoin to make a big impact on the crypto world. But things weren’t going as planned.
McGregor partnered with RWG, a decentralized autonomous organization, to fund the project with a minimum goal of $1,008,000. However, during the 28-hour pre-sale, DAO raised $392,315 in USDC (USDC) from 668 contributors. It was only 39% of that target.
RWG admitted that the auction did not give a minimum salary increase and said it would refund all bids in full. McGregor himself approved the announcement.
For fundraising, Real Token was sold at Axis Finance’s sealed bid auction. The user specified the quantity and price that he wanted to bid personally submitted, and the token was assigned to the highest bidder at a single liquidation price.
After they deliberate on the wrong location, RWG is considering a reboot of funding. The team has not yet provided a date for a restart.
McGregor has been frankly staying, characterisedly announcing or approving the updates of the project in his signature line, “Women and Gentlemen, this is the real thing!” The team plans to restructure the purpose of the token and change its funding approach for a more successful renewal.
Did you know? Memokines are often more valued due to community hype and virus trends, rather than technological innovation. Although they lack a strong fundamental, social media talk and celebrity support have driven massive short-term profits and are popular among high-risk, high-paying investors.
Reasons for failure to fund actual memocoin funds
The attempt to launch RWG’s actual memo coins faced multiple challenges and led to DAO failing to meet its funding goals.
There are several factors that contributed to this outcome.
- Market Timing: The launch coincided with a recession in the cryptocurrency market. Major cryptocurrencies, including ether (ETH) and solana (SOL), faced a sharp decline. Bitcoin (BTC) was the only exception, as investors saw it as a value holder. Memecoins have fallen almost 60% since December 24th, excluding Ghibli. Such a gloomy environment did not encourage the launch of yet another Memocoin.
- Economic situation: The world economy is undergoing a phase of reconstruction due to the Trump administration’s restructuring of tariffs. This caused a US stock crash of about $5 trillion more than Crypto’s total market capitalization. (The crash occurred after a failed fundraising, but the story was taking place). Tariffs have created uncertainty in the global economic system, which has also affected the crypto market. The fear of a recession and heavy losses in US stocks have made investors more cautious.
- Scams surrounding memokine: In 2024, as reported by Merkle Science, over $500 million was lost to Memecoin Rug Pull and fraud, fostering a huge distrust of Memecoin. One instance was to promote a hacker who undermines Kylian Mbappe’s X account, which had reached a market capitalization of $460 million before Ragpuuul. Similarly, Wiz Khalifa’s 35.7 million X followers were targeted with the fake Wiz Token, which temporarily hit a market capitalization of $3.4 million before it collapsed. This decline in investor confidence could have affected the real token reception. Nikolai Sondergaard of Nansen Research noted that experienced traders are making immediate profits.
- Misconceptions of token purpose: Despite McGregor’s claim that Real is a legitimate project for the Real World application, many people perceived it as a Memecoin approved by another celebrity. This misconception may have undermined the reliability of the token and blocked potential investors.
- Investor skepticism about celebrities tokens: The Crypto community has become cautious about tokens backed by celebrities, especially after some famous failures. Even tokens linked to Donald Trump and Melania fell sharply, causing huge losses for investors. Other known celebrity token failures include Hawk Tua (Hawk) of Harry Welch and Papa Tate (Daddy) of Andrew Tate. Several celebrities associated with Crypto have won bad names for themselves. David, a popular Nigerian Afrobeat star, launched his memo Coin David (David) and used pumps and dumps to make money. These incidents led investors to see the suspected Memecoin.
- McGregor’s Image: While at the heart of his success in the UFC, Conor McGregor’s Brash persona opposed him in the world of crypto. His history of controversy and impulsive actions undermined confidence in the legitimacy of the project. His image was raised with a red flag, especially in a space that was already plagued by fraud.
Did you know? Some memecoins have sparked real-world contributions and activities. The Dogecoin community once raised over $50,000 to send Jamaican bobsled teams to the 2014 Winter Olympics, demonstrating that Memecoin can promote fun and philanthropy.
Actual Memo Coin Purpose and Toconomies
The real purpose is to promote functions such as staking, governance, utilities, and more, as well as to promote future business integration with real MMA fight simulators. However, its talk nemics has been criticised.
According to the RWG team, the Real Memecoin Tokenomics model was designed for transparency and community engagement. 32% of the total supply was allocated to the DAO Treasury, supporting ecosystem growth and 17% were distributed to the community to encourage participation.
Token holders may bet coins to earn governance rights and rewards. 10% were booked to the development team. The model is intended to fund sports and gaming startups and blend hype with practical utilities.
Critics have discovered flaws in Tokonemics, and many consider it the reason for the poor show in fundraising. They were particularly tough with the 12-hour unlock window of tokens.
This allowed investors to sell tokens immediately after the acquisition and make profits, even when prices were lower. Some projects previously used such constructions for pumps and dumps, creating a bad precedent. This has thwarted long-term investors seeking sustainable growth.
The marketing strategy of the project also sparked concerns. Many felt that the project had no real value and was nothing more than an attempt to use celebrity names.
Using third-party logos on its website has caused misleading promotional tactics accusations, undermining the credibility of the project and blocking potential investors. And the lack of a clear roadmap for the scepticism of only amplified investors in practice.
The broader risk of celebrities-supported tokens
McGregor’s true Memecoin funding fate highlights the broader risk of celebrity crypto support. Celebrities bring attention and large follow-up, but their involvement often lacks substantiveness, long-term commitment, or technical understanding of the projects they promote.
Celebrity-backed tokens often ride on hype rather than actual value, leading to pump and dump scenarios while early investors benefit from it.
The credibility of the crypto industry suffers when such projects collapse and strengthen the mistrust of the public. The way Real’s fundraising event was revealed serves as a warning that fame cannot rival the credibility of the project.
Regulators also scrutinise such approvals more closely and could result in legal consequences for misleading promotions. For the crypto space to mature, projects need to prioritize transparency, utilities, and experienced leadership over viral marketing.
The real memocoin fundraising failure emphasizes that true trust and long-term vision are more valuable than celebrity influence in crypto fundraising.
Did you know? Shiba Inu, released by “Ryoshi” in 2020, was called “Dogecoin Killer.” The supply of Quadrillion tokens and the vibrant “Shiv Army” community brought the market capitalization to $40 billion in 2021.
What can investors learn from actual Memocoin fundraising failures?
Investors in the crypto space can learn many lessons from the real Memecoin’s failed fundraising.
First and foremost, hype is not a replacement for value. Relying solely on celebrity influence without understanding the basics of the project can make your investment decision bad.
The Real also revealed how quickly investors’ sentiment changes. The initial excitement became skeptical as users noticed the lack of community engagement and usefulness behind the token.
McGregor’s limited engagement and controversial public image proved that Star Power proved that it did not guarantee the lifespan or reliability of the project.
Investors need to recognize the importance of conducting their research (DYOR). Just because celebrities support the token doesn’t mean it’s reliable. It is essential to review real-world use cases, developer activity, talknemics, and community feedback.
Finally, the true financing breakdown underscores the need for regulatory clarity in celebrity support. Without it, misleading promotions will continue to hurt retail investors and ultimately undermine the credibility of the crypto industry.
