I. The Traditional "Selling Shovels" Logic (2017-2021) In the early ICO or DeFi Summer era, the logic was similar to traditional Fujianese business practices: Scenario: Retail investors want to mine for gold (trading/speculation). Shovels: Exchanges, public chain gas, lending protocols. Logic: You use my shovel to dig for gold, I collect rent (transaction fees). Tokens: Similar to "pre-sale service vouchers" or "membership cards," representing the right to use the shovel in the future or the right to receive dividends. II. The Distortion from 2023 to 2025: "Token as Product" By 2025, with infrastructure oversupply (L2 saturation), "collecting tolls" was no longer profitable (gas fees became negligible). Project teams and investors realized that instead of painstakingly making a good shovel and earning meager rent, it was better to directly sell "stocks of the shovel company" (Tokens) to retail investors as goods. In this new model: The real product: is the Token. This is the only thing that can generate sales revenue. Marketing materials: public chains, games, tools. Their sole purpose is to provide a narrative background for the token, increasing the credibility of the "goods" and the imagination of retail investors. Business model: Selling tokens = sales revenue. The industry no longer pursues profit through technical services, but rather uses financial means to price and sell "air." III. Production and Packaging: High Valuation Endorsement and the "Credibility" Game If the token is a commodity, then top-notch packaging is needed to sell it at a high price (ship it). Institutional Endorsement: Not for investment, but for "branding." In the 2023-2025 cycle, the role of VCs changed from "venture capitalists" to "brand franchisees." hhhh This article has many paragraphs that could be excerpted and tweeted separately 😂 twitter.com/agintender/status/...