Manifold Finance's FOLD Token Craters 98% as Founder Sam Bacha Goes Missing Behind a Wall of Memes

An estimated $126 million in value has evaporated from Manifold Finance, whose founder Sam Bacha has largely abandoned project updates in favor of posting memes, even as FOLD holders watch their holdings become worthless.

Rather than issuing a roadmap or delivering on outstanding commitments, Bacha has instead claimed to be under consideration as "Trump's new Crypto Czar."

The token's trajectory tells the story on its own: FOLD has fallen roughly 98% from its all-time high of $103, reached two years earlier, to around $0.64 at the start of November 2024 — shrinking a market capitalization that once stood near $128 million down to a fraction of its former size.

Among those caught in the decline is well-known crypto commentator Cobie, who told DL News that his 2021 investment, once worth roughly $5 million at the token's peak, is now worth nothing.

This is not the first project Bacha has walked away from. A graduate of a Tennessee university, his career has moved from a defunct freight-tracking startup to what critics now describe as DeFi's latest failed venture, leaving behind a string of dormant projects and empty investor wallets.

Manifold's GitHub activity has stalled, while its Telegram channel remains active mainly with memes, as unfulfilled promises continue to accumulate.

Origins and Ambition

Manifold Finance launched in 2021 with a stated mission of shielding traders from predatory bots. The team secured $2.5 million from venture backers including P2P.org and Marshland Capital, pitching itself as an experienced team capable of protecting decentralized exchanges from front-running.

Three Products, Three Failures

The project's first offering was an anti-front-running tool built for SushiSwap, which reportedly amounted to little in practice. After being marketed as a breakthrough for DEX trading, the tool was quietly shelved, with the team citing unspecified "bugs." SushiSwap ultimately declined to adopt even a revised version of the tool.

Manifold then pivoted to liquid staking, entering a space already dominated by Lido's roughly $30 billion footprint. Its mevETH token reached a peak market capitalization of about $37.7 million in March before losing around 90% of its value, joining the list of the project's stalled initiatives.

A third attempt, called XGA, aimed to address Ethereum transaction issues in partnership with the German firm 20squares. As progress updates became increasingly rare, a representative of 20squares stated that the firm was now "hands off from the project" and simply "waiting for updates."

Within Manifold's roughly 2,500-member Telegram group, Bacha's communication shifted over time from occasional project updates to a steady stream of memes and cryptic remarks. Asked directly about missed deadlines, he responded: "Deadlines proclaimed by me in Telegram do not constitute any sort of binding agreement."

Disappearing Act

As partners distanced themselves and products stalled, community members pushed for clarity. In October, one supporter asked why there had been no response from Bacha in the channel for 30 days. His reply was that he "was being vetted to become Trump's new Crypto Czar."

When further questioned about his absence, Bacha posted a Superman II meme referencing the villain Zod, captioning it "Kneel before Zod!"

Even outside intervention failed to produce results: Matthew Land of Marshland Capital reportedly spoke with Bacha over a weekend about "the importance of communication," but could only report afterward, via Telegram, that the "ball's in Sam's court and on Sam's timeline."

Summary of the numbers:

• September 2022 all-time high: $103
• November 2024 low: $0.64
• Decline: 98%
• Market capitalization: $128M → $2M
• Cobie's investment: $5M → $0
• Founder's public communication: largely absent

A Familiar Pattern

Manifold is not Bacha's first vanishing act. Prior to FOLD, he founded Block Array, a venture that disappeared almost as fast as it emerged. Launched in 2017 with plans to apply blockchain technology to freight tracking, Block Array's tokens are now worthless and its website is no longer online.

The parallels have not gone unnoticed within the community. As one member put it: "We don't know if Sam is even coding. We don't even know if there's anything happening."

Opinion within the community remains divided — some believe Manifold is quietly failing without any public acknowledgment, while others hold out hope that development is continuing behind the scenes toward the promised XGA release.

Closing Note

Across three product attempts — the SushiSwap tool, mevETH, and XGA — Manifold Finance has yet to deliver on its founding promise, leaving behind inactive repositories and a fading community. With 20squares stepping back and investors like Cobie writing off millions in losses, what remains of the community is left waiting for either a breakthrough or an explanation, given nine figures' worth of value has disappeared over the project's history.

Credit: DL News, Access Wire, Blockworks, Business Wire