The Rebirth of Crypto Assets

In the Crypto Assets community, there seems to be a phenomenon of "centralized exchange dependency syndrome". Some project teams, in pursuit of so-called "high returns", blindly follow the directives of certain large trading platforms, including improving certain metrics, hiring specific personnel, allocating tokens, and launching on specified dates. These companies, driven by desire, have forgotten user needs and the original intention of Crypto Assets.

Crypto Assets have become one of the fastest-growing networks for three main reasons:

1. The decentralized feature resists power concentration.
2. The Revolutionary Innovation of Blockchain Technology
3. The wealth effect brought by the appreciation of token value

However, in recent years, the financing methods of crypto projects have gradually deviated from their original intent. In the past, they relied on stimulating community participation enthusiasm, but now they have shifted towards a venture capital support model characterized by high valuations and low circulation. This has led to poor performance of many VC-backed tokens since 2023, with retail investors unwilling to pay high prices.

In contrast, Memecoins, which have no practical use, are more popular. Memecoins typically release their entire supply at launch, have a low initial valuation, and start trading on decentralized exchanges. For ordinary investors, Memecoins offer the opportunity for early participation and the chance to earn huge returns, despite the high risks.

The value sources of different types of tokens can be simply summarized as:

Memecoin value = Meme传播影响力 The value of VC tokens = the background of the founders ICO value = content dissemination power + technological potential

Traditional venture capital tends to invest in founders that fit certain stereotypes, which has led to a disconnect between crypto projects and retail demand. Retail investors want to gain substantial returns through early investments, rather than overvalued VC projects.

The ICO model allows any team to raise funds directly from the community, bypassing intermediaries. Although the risks are high, it provides opportunities for people from different backgrounds. Today, with the help of new tools, token issuance and trading have become more convenient.

Looking ahead, improvements in blockchain performance will further reduce transaction costs, benefiting the development of new projects. Retail investors should also "vote with their feet" and reject projects that are overvalued and have extremely low circulation.

Looking back at the EOS project in 2017, although it is regarded as a failure case, its $4.1 billion financing scale and the $1.2 billion market value it still holds are still worth new projects learning from its financing strategy.