Tokens are integral to our daily onchain lives. We use them for everything: transacting, supporting creators, collecting media, betting on news, memeing politics, and more. Each cycle brings new economic models that attract builders and users, leading to fresh ideas around ownership, co-creation, programmable assets, and social network rewards.
We continue to innovate and build new infrastructure and use cases for these tokens. Most products that have found product-market fit either allow you to create tokens or use tokens on their platforms. It's an asset ecosystem, but the main attraction of every cycle ends up being speculation. A little bit of casino activity is fine as liquidity enters the market, but that shouldn't be the whole point of new users getting in. Today, the market is packed with pump-and-dump schemes, where people chase quick profits and short-term exits. You could have the best tokenomics out there, but that doesn’t seem to matter anymore — the market is starting to feel like small cults around tokens, often led by a few Crypto Twitter influencers.
Last week, the FBI got involved and did an onchain investigation by creating a token called NexFundAI. This ended up with charges against market makers and individuals manipulating coin prices and engaging in wash trading. It’s one of the first onchain investigations, and who says they aren’t already sneaking into all those Telegram groups? Honestly, I’m glad it’s happening. If this space is driven purely by greed, why would anyone want to sit with us at the table?
Tokens enable creative mechanisms beyond speculation. We could have them seamlessly integrated into our onchain experiences, like micropayments and automatic yield.
You're able now to mint content in consumer apps as simple as liking a picture on social media, but there’s a difference: that "one click or double-tap" to mint involves microtransactions seamlessly integrated into our content interactions. This circles back to what blockchains excel at: programmable value. By moving money efficiently, we can continuously compensate people for their creative work: creators, contributors, and curators. A few cents from a lot of people ends up being a lot of money for one individual. TradFi can’t match this.
DeFi protocols should be seamlessly integrated into wallets. As we use different applications, the assets we hold, like ETH or USDC, should automatically earn yield without requiring extra steps. Currently, growth in these projects is slow because their usage is limited to crypto natives. But if earning yield became a built-in feature of wallets, anyone holding assets would benefit automatically, without needing to learn new processes or actively seek out incentives.
Just like software runs on code, crypto runs on tokens. They transfer value across networks and help build cool, innovative apps. It’s not just about TVLs and prices; tokens create novel experiences, distribute value to users, and give them ownership.
