Written on May 8, 2026, one and a half years into the contract space. Sharing some recent impressions: the amount of fee pulling has decreased, but the meme coins haven't disappeared.

In 2025, there was a pattern: not trading spot, only trading alpha or other low-liquidity assets, which actually performed better, meaning it was easier to manipulate prices, and contract negative fees skyrocketed. But this was a flaw brought by promoting on-chain activity and liquidity, used to harvest retail investors.
As the bear market deepened, market sentiment became too bad. People hid in shanzhai contracts or Chinese MEME coins, only to find another trap. Others had already pulled out the roots of retail investors.
Now, with mechanisms and regulations in place, the need to protect retail investors has emerged. Truly market-making exchanges have started to act. So, in the market, there are fewer fee manipulations, but more extreme volatility. Hmm, more trading means more fee income.