METIS Current State of Affairs

General
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METIS Overhaul Proposal

Good Morning Metisians!

I have been asked to voice my concerns regarding recent events and the overall health of the network, with the intent to provide constructive criticism and suggest improvements. I have been active on METIS for almost four years, and it has been a journey filled with both highs and lows. As a project founder and investor in METIS, I have discussed the state of the network with colleagues and friends, and we share similar opinions on the urgent changes needed. While we all recognize the excellence of METIS technology, the execution and strategy for attracting users to this technology have been lackluster. This proposal aims to bring attention to key issues and provide the METIS Foundation with a clearer understanding of community sentiment.

Community Sentiment

Overall, community sentiment for METIS is at an all-time low. Some early adopters are even considering leaving the network. While the situation is not beyond repair, we must first identify the root causes of these issues. Greater accountability, closer supervision, and a more hands-on foundation team are crucial to reversing this trend.

Communication

Communication has been a persistent challenge for METIS since its inception, and it has not improved in recent months. Effective communication must be steady, concise, and provide a clear vision for METIS’s future. This includes updates on new integrations, roadmaps, technical documentation, and input from the METIS founders. We need to be proactive and professional, with all communication prepared and scheduled ahead of time. Currently, it feels like we are constantly scrambling to produce content. Establishing a robust communication system and enforcing accountability are essential steps forward.

Marketing

METIS has suffered from inconsistent marketing, largely due to the absence of a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Filling this role must be a top priority. The focus should shift to user acquisition rather than promoting lesser-known protocols.

Previously, METIS’s marketing strategy emphasized promoting projects on METIS rather than the network itself. While this exposure benefits native projects, it must be approached with caution to avoid undue risk.

Key Marketing Questions:

  • Why choose METIS to build?
  • Why choose METIS to invest?
  • Why is METIS better than 500 other Layer 2 blockchains?

These questions should form the foundation of any marketing campaign. Leveraging Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and strategic mentions in videos has been effective in the past, but such efforts yield the best results during favorable market conditions.

Strategy

The overall strategy for METIS appears unclear. While there is a focus on attracting DeFi protocols and projects, the network lacks adequate tooling to support developers and encourage collaboration.

Grants, a core aspect of any successful ecosystem, have been mismanaged previosly. Many recipients of METIS grants show little interest in the community, often taking the funds and leaving without contributing value. This approach has angered the community. Instead, grants should be used strategically to build infrastructure that attracts users. Big names will follow once users are on-chain.

Proposed Infrastructure Investments:

  • Tools for Analytics & On-Chain Data
  • Layer Zero Tools
  • Off-the-shelf React components and on-chain integrations (e.g., Base’s resources for developers)
  • Tutorials

The Base network’s developer resources provide an excellent model: https://www.base.org/build.

Business Development

The culture and effectiveness of the business development team need urgent review. Numerous builders report frustration with METIS’s lack of support for grassroots projects. It’s unclear whether this stems from a lack of authority or competence within the team.

METIS has repeatedly opted to hire or fund external entities rather than supporting homegrown projects. This strategy is counterproductive. Large companies will not care about METIS unless we have users. Every expenditure should bring tangible value to the network.

Focusing on core projects, as Fantom did with SpookySwap and TOMB, can attract attention and drive growth. Incentives, such as those offered during HUMMUS’s tenure, should be reintroduced and directed to existing protocols on METIS. Incentives are the fuel for DeFi growth and must be reignited.

Airdrops

The mishandling of airdrops has severely damaged METIS’s reputation. Both the “Helmet” and “Layer 2” airdrops were poorly executed, leading to widespread dissatisfaction. The first airdrop overpromised and underdelivered, angering participants. The second airdrop’s year-long quest cost $40-50, and the reward didn’t even cover the cost of entry, prompting the derogatory trend “#SCAMMETIS” on Twitter. Such missteps are unacceptable.

Conclusion

While METIS faces significant challenges, it also has immense potential for recovery and growth. However, urgent changes are needed. Difficult decisions must be made to steer the network back on track. These concerns represent my views and those of other METIS builders and investors who believe in the need for immediate action.

Please sign below if you support this call to action:

Yours Truly,
AC

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Identity (or lack there of) is the biggest issue.

When Metis launched it had a strong identity, striving to create a comprehensive infrastructure for web2 businesses so that they could make a transition to web 3. Has a single web2 business been on boarded?

Now Metis seems to drift aimlessly after metas. They decided to go all in on memes 6 months too late, and (as anyone paying attention predicted) it is dead on arrival.

I spoke a while ago on another post about Metis seeming to take the wrong message From the success of memes. Memes do well because they are fun and easy to understand.

Nothing about Metis is fun or easy to understand. They seem obsessed with the 2020 playbook of vague announcements about how great things are about to be, rather than just delivering.

I think a primary step the Metis team needs to take is to decide what it is they want to be, what is Metis “Best” at?

Right now what is any user meant to shill about it?

“There’s decentralised sequencers, and I know you don’t know what that means but trust me it’s cool and you can farm some defi rewards just like on every other L2”

Hardly a convincing sales pitch.

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As CEG advocate, project founder, investor, and ecosystem participant, I support this proposal.

If I could add something to communication side: I have seen good feedback from other ecosystems when more team members, founders, CEO’s, etc… come down from their “ivory tower” and communicate with us plebs. Sure we got Elena for the Metis Morning Show, but where’s Tom, Kevin, etc… come down and feel the sentiment on our level, gather feedback, and make hard decisions. Anthony/Rekt can’t be the only bridge between us plebs and the higher ups.

Signed: cobi.bean

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Great insight Kehmor!

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Well Written AC. I second this statement and proposal.

Whoever the leader is, come down and participate with us in the ecosystem. Vesta provides a very good platform to discuss everything with METIS. Grab an NFT, whether it’s a llama, yape, or an OG Monkex. All the leaders are so disconnected from us in your trenches.

How can we be bullish when our very own leaders seem to be ignoring us. Morale is low. Participate and set the example.

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Well said, AC. It’s refreshing to see someone voice concerns many of us have quietly shared. However, amidst all these critical points, one thing remains clear: METIS has some real builders and advocates who deserve proper recognition.

Let’s be real—while some folks rely on bots to create a façade of activity, there are genuine builders and advocates working tirelessly to onboard users, provide value, and push METIS forward without shortcuts. These individuals dedicate their time, effort, and resources to the ecosystem but are often overlooked. A little appreciation for those bringing organic growth wouldn’t hurt.

AC nailed it on the inconsistent marketing and lack of strategic focus. The absence of a clear vision—one that makes developers, investors, and users see METIS as the obvious choice—is glaring. And yes, marketing a network means marketing the network. Let’s address the “why METIS” questions head-on, with real answers backed by action.

Also, let’s not forget the airdrop debacles. They weren’t just mismanaged—they were PR nightmares. Misaligned expectations and poor execution hurt trust, and trust takes ages to rebuild.

That said, METIS’s tech is undeniably excellent, and the potential is massive. The grants program, if used strategically, could be a game-changer for building necessary infrastructure and empowering real contributors. Let’s look at the Base model for inspiration.

Despite these challenges, I’d like to thank METIS for staying the course. The network has weathered storms, and many of us are still here because we believe in its long-term potential. But let’s focus on rewarding and uplifting genuine contributors and advocates—not just during bull runs, but consistently.

It’s time to rebuild trust, clarify strategy, and let actions speak louder than words. The road to redemption is clear—now it’s about walking it.

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All this is possible if they start to communicate with the community.

Let’s focus on this first. Some of us know marketing services, KOLs, teams, and our community itself could be the best marketing power, but the way this “communication” going…gross.
I personally know a good gaming projects, could help with that. Metisians are everywhere.

Some of us are ready to help. Just talk to us, Metis team. It’s very simple, win-win for both team and community, is it so hard to understand?

Signed: 2yo Monkexor

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100% agree with you guys, we should hear more from Tom and Kevin, the community is ready to fight for Metis, I’ve seen some random guys tweeting about Metis because they knew this will attract likes and shares, but recently nothing.

And please bring back José or do something to keep him close to the Metis team, this guy handled the Metis marketing by himself!!

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I think an example of how out of touch Metis is is the first Gitcoin campaign. This forced them to come to terms with just how much little "community’ they had.

Instead of accepting the situation, and working with the communities trying to build, they chose to artificially boost the metrics, and push their personal favourite projects to the forefront, rather than any of the teams who actively engaged with the process.

Having a small community in a problem, being unwilling to engage and put in the work to build a larger community is a bigger problem.

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Well said, metis team must hear from community, most of investors user and actors start losing trust and patience.
Communication is very bad, no roadmap shared community don’t know the direction taken by team. Many promised deployment not done and many technical features expected not implemented.
Community wants a good technical chain but can’t see any technical updates since dseq

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Metis to me is like a playground for some tech people (they think they are smart so they must be great), who have no idea how to run a real project connecting normal people and make it user friendly. They experiment some new defi projects (which got rugged), the airdrop campaign (which failed), some marketing director (which has now changed), and now the meme trend… endless things they want to do without a real vision in mind.

Passionate people left, real builders got frustrated and move on to other projects, OGs sold their bags. Offended the external community and the ones who have stayed long in Metis. And they are still too blind to see what is happening to Metis?

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I agree with AC, well said. With that said, promoting adding value for developers is the key right here. Without big name devs, no one will be interested in metis

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Name 3 immutable Devs without looking them up along with the projects they made before immutable.

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I agree with everything you said! Well said! I would also like to add some things that are fundamental for me :

  • precision when communicating things (e.g. wrong things like marchdrop, stakedot link etc.)

  • credibility in the L2 world therefore becoming stage1/2 as soon as possible !

  • change the form of introducing new projects. many, too many have been found to be fraudulent and have ruined the reputation of Metis in front of many people’s eyes

  • precise and certain roadmap with stages that are shared in total transparency

aligning with Eth is the step that matters most to me. Elena and colleagues Metis said that we will pass stage 1 by Q1. do not disappoint us.

and we need to continue with the decentralization of the Sequencer and add Okx and Stake dot Link as soon as possible

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While as a builder I feel the support of the Dev Rel team as they have some truely talented members there. (Those that are actually aware of what’s going on in the market and what could be the right response to it.)
However I support each of the points - including the additional one regarding the clear direction.
I was there on the DAC formation at main net launch and I remember the narrative about web2 onboarding. But as it was written before me all those changed a couple of times
Naturally I support the AI Agent narrative right now but what’s more important is to fix the above issues and provide an immediate response.

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Investor and supporter of project since 2021 held 20k+ METIS, it wasn’t ONLY about money, I believed in tech, put my friends in Metis. Raised concerns many times in telegram and discord groups, just to be called a FUDDER and getting banned multiple times while just trying to raise concerns and help project to get on right path. I fell in love with the project, I believed the team always. BUT after all the “soon” hyping for 3 months just to get “THE BIG NEWS” which was always shit to say at least, but still I always believed “this time is different”. Yesterday I started selling. Yes I sold, close to the bottom. I can’t describe how I felt when I sold first batch, it was like the big stone fell from my heart, I felt freed from this shitshow. I actually don’t care if metis go to $5k from here, would even be happy for you other holders. So I’m gonna end this with a FAREWELL to all people who called me a FUDDER when I was just trying to point out all bad executions from team. Now hold, buidl and pray. :beers: Metis the “SOON” chain

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Completely agree AC. Simple message to the Metis Team… DO BETTER

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The banning “fud” is a huge problem, and is the reason I am not in any way optimistic that any of this will be addressed by the Metis team in good faith.

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I only reported Bronson because he used a bad word and expressed himself in a way that was not appropriate for a civil conversation. I have nothing to say on the merits.

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As a Decentralization Coordinator of Process and Governance team lead, I will lead the response to this long-awaited request and guide the accompanying discussion. I aim to shape a governance model for a community that genuinely cares, and this post highlights that Metis indeed has such a community.

Here’s the message sent to the Ivory Tower :wink:. Please let me know if anything is missing:

Below is a concise overview of what the original post and all subsequent replies are collectively asking from the Metis team, and why these requests are being made.

What Is Being Requested

  1. Clearer & More Frequent Communication

    • Leadership Visibility: Community members want direct engagement from Metis founders and senior team members (e.g., Tom, Kevin, etc.), not just from Elena.
    • Proactive Updates: Calls to share roadmaps, progress on technical features, clear timelines (e.g., “stage 1/2 decentralization”), and not just hype or vague “soon” announcements.
    • Open Dialogue: Many want leaders to “come down from the ivory tower” to field questions, address grievances, and acknowledge community feedback—rather than banning critics as “FUD.”

  2. Defined Identity & Strategy

    • Purpose & Narrative: Originally, Metis pitched itself as a platform to onboard web2 businesses, but that focus shifted multiple times (DeFi, memes, AI, etc.). The community wants Metis to decide what it’s truly best at and articulate that consistently.
    • Marketing Alignment: Instead of marketing numerous small projects, focus on marketing Metis itself—answering the “Why Metis?” question (vs. other L2s) with clear selling points.

  3. Better Ecosystem Support & Grant Management

    • Quality Over Quantity: Criticism that grants have gone to projects that take funds without contributing back. The community wants grants focused on essential infrastructure (analytics, dev tools, tutorials) and genuine projects that drive user growth.
    • Support for Real Builders: Grassroots builders feel unsupported. They seek tangible resources, guidance, and promotional help that lead to sustained on-chain activity.

  4. Improved Airdrop & Campaign Execution

    • Rebuild Trust: Prior airdrops (e.g., “Helmet,” “Layer 2”) were poorly managed—costly for participants, with minimal rewards—damaging Metis’s reputation. The community requests more transparent, fair, and compelling incentive programs.
    • Avoid PR Pitfalls: Future campaigns must align expectations with actual outcomes to avoid negative social media backlash.

  5. Community Involvement & Respect

    • No Banning for Concerns: Multiple members say they were banned or labeled as “FUD” for raising issues. They want constructive criticism welcomed, not silenced.
    • Appreciation for Loyal Contributors: Some folks have invested large sums of money and time to build on Metis. They want recognition and consistent support rather than feeling ignored or dismissed.

Why These Requests Are Being Made

  1. Low Morale & Trust

    • The community and longtime supporters have grown frustrated by repeated “big announcements” that underdeliver, inconsistent communication, and a lack of tangible progress. Some have sold their holdings, citing a sense of relief at walking away.
    • Multiple missteps (e.g., badly run Gitcoin campaigns, fraudulent projects getting spotlighted) have eroded confidence in Metis’s leadership and ecosystem vision.

  2. Missed Opportunities & Unclear Value Proposition

    • Despite Metis’s strong underlying technology, it is overshadowed by an inability to convey why developers or investors should choose Metis over other Layer 2s.
    • Rapidly changing narratives (memes, AI, DeFi, web2 onboarding) without clear follow-through leaves builders confused about what Metis stands for.

  3. Desire to See Metis Succeed

    • Many in the community still believe in Metis’s long-term potential and want to help. They offer marketing services, introductions to reputable projects, and developer expertise—if the team is willing to listen.
    • They see “fixing communication and direction” as the first step to unlocking the passion and talents of existing community members who can help Metis grow.

  4. Need for Tangible Results

    • Vague promises and broad-brush marketing are less effective now, especially during tougher market conditions. The community wants action—solid roadmaps, functional infrastructure, real user acquisition, and an ecosystem that people can rally around.

Key Takeaway

In short, the Metis community believes in the technology’s potential but urgently wants real direction, open dialogue, consistent marketing of Metis itself, better-managed incentives, and recognition of genuine contributors. They feel the foundation’s failure to communicate openly, set a clear identity, and deliver on promises is driving away loyal supporters and damaging Metis’s reputation. The collective message is simple:

“We’re still here because we believe Metis can succeed. Please engage us, be transparent, pick a direction, and show us real progress. We’re ready to help—but you have to meet us halfway.”

Now, as you requested

not just hype or vague “soon” announcements

I wish to provide answers before the ETHDevner but it may happen right after as the team will have an opportunity to make final adjustments during in-person events.
That being said - if we will be able to respond to some of the questions sooner - we will post it sooner.

I would like to thank you for the post and all the discussions around it!

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