Recently, a trader achieved a 2200x return in one day with the meme coin zreal, once again sparking discussions about information asymmetry in the community. Behind this event, it actually reflects a common phenomenon in the entire meme coin market—those who have access to information make huge profits, while most retail investors end up paying for their cash-outs.

How exactly did he do it? This trader bought 66.3 million zreal tokens at a cost of $285 shortly after the token was launched. Afterwards, he sold the tokens in batches to later retail buyers, with the already sold portion cashing out $210,000. According to on-chain data analysis, he still holds 46.3 million tokens untouched, with an unrealized profit of about $417,000. Including the realized gains, the total on-paper profit approaches $627,000—this is the story of how $285 turned into $62.7K.

The problem is, this operational model is commonplace in the meme coin market. Early participants have an informational advantage, building their positions before most people even realize what’s happening. When the token starts gaining attention and retail investors flood in, these insiders begin to sell in batches, shifting all the price volatility risk onto the follow-on investors. Someone gets rich quickly, and someone else suffers losses—this is a zero-sum game.