Founders

I've been thinking a lot about how we treat crypto tokens.

Too often, we expect them to act like equity from day one but protocols aren’t companies, and tokens aren’t stocks.

Tokens Were Never Meant to Be This Way:

Open-sourcing my brain | Blockchain Analyst & Growth Strategist

We want them to be everything, everywhere, all at once. But that’s like asking a seed to behave like a tree.

➜  Distribute value 
➜  Incentivize growth
➜  Align stakeholders 
➜  Govern the protocol 
➜  Offer financial upside

Too much. Too soon.

But what if tokens weren’t born butterflies?

What if they evolved with the protocol shifting in purpose, role, and value at each step?

In that way, tokens become instruments of coordination, not just speculation.

Phase 3: Token Maturity
Goal: Retention, autonomy, long-term alignment

Now the token grows into its financial role because the protocol is ready for it.  At this point, the protocol should have:

➜ Product-market fit? 
➜ Community maturity? 
➜ Economic flywheel? 

Tokens aren’t broken. Our expectations of them are.

Treat them like evolving tools not instant miracles and they’ll create value beyond speculation.

P.S. This is just a rough sketch of a bigger idea. Feedback, thoughts, or just a “hey this sucks/this slaps” is always welcome!

Phase 2: Utility Flywheel 
Goal: Engagement, behavior design, internal growth

Protocols don’t need hype. They need habits.

This is the phase where tokens stop being symbols and start being systems:

Tokens are now embedded into the core mechanics, becoming levers that guide behavior, reinforce contributions, and build economic resilience. 

These are the first ones that come to my mind:

➜ Stake to access key functionalities, special internal communications or Inflation-based incentives tied to user behaviors  

➜ POL (Protocol-Owned Liquidity) to build sustainable liquidity around the token and align long-term interests between tokenholders and DAO

➜ Modular Governance: Decisions should be driven by individuals with deep expertise in the specific domain at hand. 

Honestly, 90% of token holders rarely engage with full proposals, and many lack the technical or contextual understanding to make informed choices

Here’s a 3-phase framework designed to align both the protocol’s lifecycle and the user journey where each phase uses the token to unlock a specific type of behavior through smart incentives and clear communication:

Phase 1: Bootstrap
Goal: Awareness, contribution, activation 

This is the “initiation” phase. The token’s job is to initiate the system, not to reward speculation, so it should:

➜ Attract attention 
➜ Spark early usage 
➜ Reward contributors