Celestia, a project once hailed as a star in the modular blockchain space, is now facing a crisis of trust.

As the first modular blockchain, Celestia quickly ignited the market with a massive airdrop. However, it has recently been embroiled in controversy due to a series of revelations.

Twitter user @0xCircusLover accused Celestia executives of cashing out, manipulating public opinion, and engaging in illicit dealings. Co-founder Mustafa was exposed for selling over $25.00 million worth of tokens off-exchange before moving to Dubai, while the large-scale unlocking scheduled for October 2024 has also triggered market panic.

Further revelations allege that its $100.00 million "funding" was actually a pre-arranged OTC token sale, repackaged as positive news just before the unlocking, raising questions about the motives behind the operation within the community.

In addition to the cash-out controversy, Celestia's "gray area" marketing practices have also been exposed. Crypto KOL @ayyyeandy and Bankless founder David Hoffman have both been named and questioned for promoting the project. While David quickly clarified the transaction records, the doubts persist.

Furthermore, the post also revealed that the former head of developer relations was fired for sexual harassment, and that Celestia used large sums of money to buy out partnerships with competing projects, suppressing potential competitors in the modular space.

In response to the turmoil, co-founder Mustafa issued a rare statement, claiming that the external hype was FUD, and that Celestia still has over $100.00 million in reserves, enough to support more than six years of operation. He also emphasized that the team of over 50 core members is still committed. However, real-world data confirms a cliff-like decline in market enthusiasm.

As of June 24, the price of $TIA has plummeted by over 91% from its all-time high, and daily revenue has dropped from a peak of $1.60 million to less than $100.00, with on-chain data transmission volume and user activity also declining in tandem, leading to a sharp contraction in ecosystem vitality.

Despite the cooling market enthusiasm, Celestia is still pushing forward with technology and governance. For example, the new testnet mamo-1 will increase block throughput by 16 times; on the governance side, a proposal has been put forward to reduce token issuance inflation and introduce a PoG mechanism, in an attempt to enhance DeFi ecosystem usage scenarios and value accumulation. At the same time, Celestia continues to promote cooperation with projects such as Ethena, Hyperlane, and VanEck, and has been listed on multiple exchanges.

Celestia's predicament reflects the reality after the ebb of the crypto narrative: it is easy to tell a good story, but extremely difficult to continuously deliver. Whether the modular concept can truly survive the cycle ultimately depends on real user adoption and long-term value capture capabilities.