The crypto community is deeply divided over a controversial fundraising effort by Runway co-founder Siqi Chen, who launched a token called MIRA to raise funds for his four-year-old daughter Mira's rare brain tumor, craniopharyngioma. Just days later, he created another token, ZERO, which he sold for a tidy profit of nearly $100,000 (444 SOL), prompting accusations of a scam.
The MIRA Miracle
A mysterious Good Samaritan created the MIRA token on Solana to support research for Mira's incurable disease. Chen quickly leveraged the community's goodwill, raising millions—at one point holding MIRA worth $18 million. The funds were directed to Dr. Todd Hankinson's lab, the only one in the world specializing in craniopharyngioma research.
The ZERO Controversy
On Monday, Chen deployed ZERO, claiming it was a learning test. He sold it for 444 SOL ($100,000), then bought back and burned all profits, stating he made zero net profit. On X, he apologized: “I'm still learning how this works.” Chen explained he needed to understand pump.fun to help other pediatric disease organizations replicate MIRA's success. The token's description explicitly warns: “This token is going to zero and you will definitely lose all your money. Do not buy it.”
Community Reactions: Mixed
Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus urged: “Stop 'experimenting.' It's gonna kill every bit of goodwill.” On-chain sleuth ZachXBT accused Chen of playing dumb, citing previous similar excuses. Screenshots show Chen boasting about a $230,000 profit from a psychedelics NFT in 2022, undermining his claim of being a newbie.
Others defended him, noting his successful tech background makes a scam unlikely. Linda Xie, co-founder of Scalar Capital, wrote: “I'm assuming good intent and naiveness. The guy is going through a lot with his daughter—let's educate rather than attack.”
What's Next?
Chen told Bitcoin.com News he would provide a full explanation “in a few days” after conducting on-chain analysis and airdropping holders at the time of his dump. At press time, ZERO's price stood at $0.0002030 with a market cap of $203,000.
The incident highlights the fragility of trust in meme-coin philanthropy: when altruism meets profit, where do we draw the line?