Who TF is Retsba?
The Man Behind the Meme - by Pope Degen
Every hero needs a villain.
Abstract didn’t create one — it got outwitted by its own reflection..
This is the story of Retsba — the red-hued, eyebrowed antagonist birthed from Abster’s shadow. A meme turned mission. A character with chaos baked in. But behind the lore? There’s a real guy, pushing this narrative forward like it matters — because it does.
So I asked him straight up:
Retsba, the evil twin of Abster. Sounds like a villain origin story. Was this sparked by some iconic evil character you’ve always loved? A hidden urge to take over the world? Or did you just wake up one day and go, fuck it, I’m reversing the name of a penguin? Walk us through the moment it hit.
“When I came to Abstract, I immediately became a fan of the Abster community. At my highest point I had 0.5% of the supply and was as active as I could be in the community. Eventually, I came to a point where I knew I wanted to make my own memecoin.
I sat back and looked at the current state of the Abstract ecosystem and Pudgy Penguins universe and I noticed the obvious lack of any kind of antagonist. It was a no-brainer really. I hue-swapped Abster to red (which also resulted in a blue beak,) reversed the name, gave him eyebrows to better display anger, and Retsba was born.
Even though Retsba is a play on Abster in name, he is intended to serve as the villain for all of the Pudgy Penguins, and the Abstract ecosystem at large.”
🧾 ORIGIN LOG
Penguin goes red. Name goes backwards. Eyebrows come out.
Launched: March 6, 2025
Original Dev Supply: 150M tokens
Burned: 100M in pre-bonding
Bonding: Blitzed
Invited to Pudgy HQ: By Luca Netz, 2 weeks later
Mission: Inject villainy into Pudgy + Abstract IP
A villain coin with real narrative weight — and a dev who burns with it.
“He’s not just a meme. He’s the antagonist both ecosystems were missing.”
👤 WHO IS DON CORLETONY?
“Solana gave me my start. Abstract gave me purpose.”
The ice hockey fanatic who turned his love for crypto into a purpose-driven project.
Not the meme. Not the token. The guy who built it all.
I asked him to strip the character back and tell us who he is — his story, his crypto journey, how he got to this place, and who Don Corletony is right now.
“Who is DonCorletony? At present time I'm a 28 year old guy from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who is obsessed with crypto, stocks, and ice hockey.
I first dipped my toes into crypto back in 2022. I started on the normie path, buying Bitcoin on Robinhood. Around the beginning of 2024, my good friend irl, StackedCrypto, got in me into the world of Solana Defi. He's actually working on Retsba with me. He helps with the liquidity pools and will also help bring defi options to the project down the line.
Defi on Solana is what really opened the flood gates for me into the world of crypto, and I haven’t looked back since. I'm a thorough crypto-maxi, through and through.”
🤝 CULT OVER COIN
Some people chase charts. Don embodies them.
I’m someone who goes deep into the trenches — researching projects, way too many notifications, countless time on X and private Telegram groups. Even the most elite callers who don’t shill shitters all day, are usually pushing 3–5 coins at any given time.
After some deep diving I noticed that Don is different. He picks one… and becomes it.
Scroll back far enough on his X, and you’ll see it. First it was $PENAIS. Then $ABSTER. Now, $RETSBA. He doesn’t just ape in or tweet it once — he embodies the project.
I wanted to know the real story behind those choices. And why, for him, building culture isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s the whole point.
“I'm shocked at the $PENAIS reference. What a wild ride it was to be a part of that community. $PENAIS, or AI Penis, was a project that I became a community member for in late 2024 back during the AI memetoken craze. With things like $FARTCOIN and $BUTTHOLE taking off, coupled with the obsession over AI, it seemed like the perfect storm of metas. Unfortunately, the dev on that project wasn’t great. But in the end, it was a very important experience, because it taught me both what a good community looks like, and also taught me what bad dev decisions look like.
Abster was the first token I joined on Abstract, and obviously Retsba is my creation and why we're here today. I believe culture matters more than chasing charts, because unless you're dealing with a pump and dump, culture creates charts.
You can get lucky chasing charts and catch a pump before it dumps. Or, you can find something you believe in and create your own luck. I choose the latter, because it puts the power in to my own hands. Plus, I find it more enjoyable. I think that's why I "become" these characters. Because I genuinely enjoy the projects I represent. And because I believe in working for my bags.”
✳️ BUILDING ON ABSTRACT
It’s still early days — but how’s it really been building on Abstract? What kind of reception have you felt from the chain, the community, the team?
“Building on Abstract has been a fantastic experience. Within 2 weeks of my token being launched, I had been invited by Luca Netz to go visit Pudgy Penguins HQ. By chance, they're located only 40 minutes away from where I live.”
“I dare you to find another chain where one of the founders invites a brand new meme coin creator to come visit them and give them tons of advice.”
Do you feel like RETSBA is finding its place, or forcing one? And as Abstract evolves, how does Retsba fit the picture?
“I do feel that Retsba is finding his way into the ecosystem naturally. It seems that people are enjoying the content and the character.
I have a very vivid vision for the character, and what role he can play in the ecosystem from a narrative stand point and I intend on seeing it through at all costs.”
What started as a meme is now a slow takeover.
Retsba isn’t asking for a place in the ecosystem — he’s taking one.
