In 2019, almost every VC said "F*ck tokens, we want equity. Tokens were a mistake!" A year later, they were buying every series A. Is this time different, truly? We can’t keep going as a self-policing communist alignment circle.

💡 Play a different game. Embrace the split ⤵️

Everybody sees the problems in crypto capital markets, but blaming the game or the players doesn’t help anymore. We need solutions...

I believe the crypto industry has already split into two: tokens vs products.

It used to be that token *was* the product. You’d focus on both equally. If your product did even remotely okay and you paired it with incentives or token games, you could boost attention and valuation.

Token <> product reinforced each other! That worked during the Chainlink growth phase, with aggressive oracle tweeting and “community” (paid armies) rallying. It worked for L1s. But I don’t think it works anymore.

Shenanigans have been very short-lived.

Don't agree? Think it's a temporary fling again?

🔗 https://lobsters.substack.com/p/token-is-no-longer-the-product-an