Consumption Chain Project: Innovation and Challenges Coexisting

In recent years, many projects centered around the concept of "consumption chain" have emerged in the blockchain industry, aiming to lower user thresholds, simplify operational processes, and attract more Web2 users into the Web3 world. A certain TON ecosystem project, as the first consumer Layer project in this ecosystem, has quickly attracted millions of users due to its EVM compatibility and tokenization features of social platforms.

However, as the project progresses, user and market feedback has become polarized: on one hand, the project's technological innovation and user growth are remarkable; on the other hand, some users question its business model due to returns from participation in activities not meeting expectations. This article will explore the essence of the consumption chain: is it a pioneer of industry transformation, or a tool for shell games and profit-taking?

1. Innovation and Achievements of Consumption Chain Projects

Technical Breakthrough: EVM Compatibility and Social Ecosystem Integration

The biggest highlight of this project is its EVM compatibility, which allows developers to build applications in the TON ecosystem using the familiar Solidity language, greatly lowering the development threshold. At the same time, through the tokenization of social platform points, it transforms the points of Web2 users into on-chain assets, further simplifying the process for users to enter Web3. This technological integration not only brings new liquidity to the TON ecosystem but also provides seamless on-chain experiences for hundreds of millions of social platform users.

User Growth and Ecosystem Expansion

Since the launch of the testnet, the project has attracted over 5.3 million users' attention, with the number of paid users in the testnet activities exceeding 1 million, and the on-chain transaction volume surpassing 29 million. After the mainnet launch, the number of active wallets quickly exceeded 1 million, and the on-chain transaction volume exceeded 5 million, demonstrating a strong momentum of user growth. In addition, the project has also partnered with several well-known blockchain platforms, further expanding its ecosystem.

Token Economics and Incentive Mechanisms

The total supply of the project's tokens is 10 billion, of which 77% is allocated to community and ecological development, including 50% for airdrops and 20% to support ecological development, among others. This incentive mechanism aims to attract users to participate through airdrops and staking activities while providing funding support for ecological projects.

2. User Experience Feedback: Concerns of the Consumption Chain

The rules of the event are complex, and the cost for users to participate is high.

Although the project has attracted a large number of users through airdrop and staking activities, some users have reported that the activity rules are complex and the participation costs are high. For example, users need to stake a certain amount of assets to receive airdrop rewards, and in the case of significant market fluctuations, the value of the staked assets may drop substantially, resulting in actual user returns being lower than expected. This design has been questioned by some users as a "disguised way to fleece investors."

The limitations of social platform points tokenization ###

The tokenization feature of social platform points in the project, while lowering the barrier for users to enter Web3, has limited practical application scenarios. Currently, tokenized points are mainly used for paying Gas fees and participating in on-chain activities, and have not yet formed a wide range of consumption scenarios. This limitation may lead users to question the long-term value of the project.

Insufficient ecological liquidity

Although the project is committed to integrating liquidity from multiple blockchain ecosystems, the DeFi protocols and applications within its ecosystem are still in the early stages, and liquidity is relatively insufficient. This fragmentation of liquidity may limit the actual experience of users, thereby affecting the long-term development of the project.

III. The Essence of the Consumption Chain: Industry Transformation or Shell Game to Harvest Investors?

The potential for industry transformation

The core goal of the consumption chain is to lower the user threshold through technological innovation and promote the migration of Web2 users to Web3. The project's EVM compatibility and social platform point tokenization function embody this concept. This compatibility not only allows for a smooth transition of existing Web2 applications into the Web3 ecosystem but also provides developers with more powerful tool support, enhancing user experience and application adoption rates. If it can effectively address the issues of insufficient liquidity and limited application scenarios, the consumption chain is expected to become a catalyst for large-scale applications in the blockchain industry, driving the comprehensive development of a decentralized economy.

The risk of being cut like chives

However, the incentive mechanisms and business models behind the consumption chain can also be easily abused. Some projects may attract user funds through complex participation rules and high participation costs, ultimately causing losses for investors. This phenomenon of "cutting leeks"—luring with high returns at the expense of user funds—is not new in the blockchain field, especially in the absence of effective regulation, which may exacerbate irrational speculative behavior in the market and harm the interests of ordinary users. Therefore, ensuring the transparency, sustainability, and protection of user rights of the consumption chain mechanism, establishing user trust, and ensuring the healthy development of the market become key challenges for its future development.

4. Case Insights from Consumption Chain Projects: Predicaments and Solutions

The double-edged sword of tokenomics design

The token economic model of this project is at the heart of its controversy. Although it allocates 77% of the tokens to the community (including 50% airdrops, 20% ecological development, etc.) in an attempt to attract user participation through high incentives, historical airdrop data shows that over 88% of the tokens depreciated significantly within three months after the airdrop due to selling pressure. This model can quickly accumulate users in the short term, but if it lacks support from actual application scenarios, the token value becomes difficult to maintain, ultimately leading to users suffering losses due to asset shrinkage. For example, while users in the project's testnet activities deposited 9.3 million social platform points, the usage scenarios after tokenization were limited to paying Gas fees and staking, failing to form a consumption closed loop.

The Distinction Between Virtual and Real in Technological Integration

The project's technological innovations—such as EVM compatibility, tokenization of social platform points, and cross-chain liquidity integration—are packaged as "industry transformation," but the actual implementation results still need validation. For example, its claim of "integrating liquidity from multiple blockchain ecosystems" relies on cross-chain bridges and incentive mechanisms, yet the total locked value (TVL) of the TON ecosystem is only $700 million (90% in TON and USDC), indicating a weak underlying support for liquidity integration. Moreover, although the architecture of a certain blockchain platform has lowered the development threshold, the decentralized applications (DApps) in the TON ecosystem are still primarily focused on Meme and simple GameFi, lacking complex applications.

Community-driven sustainability challenges

The project's "fun community culture" is a highlight of its user growth, attracting millions of users through gamified interactions designed by bots. However, this model heavily relies on short-term incentives, raising concerns about user retention. Data shows that during its testnet phase, 230,000 users charged social platform points, but after the mainnet launch, the growth rate of on-chain transaction volume slowed, indicating that user activity may decline with the end of the airdrop. In contrast, a mature consumption chain needs to build a long-term value capture mechanism, such as transforming user behavior into on-chain productivity through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, rather than relying solely on a "traffic-airdrop" cycle.

V. The Future of Consumption Chain: From "Traffic Game" to "Value Network"

Return to the essence of user needs

The core proposition of the consumption chain should be to lower the barriers to using Web3 and create real demand. The project’s important attempt to enable users to "seamlessly go on-chain" through tokenization of social platform points is significant, but if it only stays at the level of paying Gas fees, it is no different from Web2 point systems. In the future, it is necessary to expand application scenarios, such as using tokenized points for social rewards, content subscriptions, and other high-frequency consumption behaviors, forming a "points-consumption-revenue" closed loop.

Deepening the technology of liquidity integration

Current cross-chain liquidity integration largely relies on bridging protocols, but security and efficiency issues are prominent. If the project wants to truly break the isolation of the TON ecosystem, it needs to explore more fundamental solutions, such as using zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology to achieve lightweight cross-chain verification, or aggregating multi-chain assets through a unified liquidity pool. At the same time, introducing real yield protocols (such as lending and derivatives) can improve capital utilization and avoid the "false prosperity" of liquidity.

Building a regulatory and compliance framework

The vision of "mass adoption" of the consumption chain must confront regulatory challenges. For example, loyalty points on social platforms as an entry point for fiat currency may involve anti-money laundering (KYC/AML) issues, and the financial attributes of tokenized points may also fall under securities regulation. The project needs to collaborate with compliance agencies to explore the integration of on-chain identity and compliant payment channels, rather than solely relying on "regulatory arbitrage."

6. Conclusion

The case studies of consumption chain projects reflect the typical contradictions in this field: on one hand, there is the innovative potential of technology integration and user growth, while on the other hand, there are token economic bubbles and short-term profit-seeking risks. The future success or failure will depend on whether the expansion of application scenarios can develop from simple memes and games to high-frequency demands in social interactions, finance, etc. The so-called liquidity and cross-chain integration must genuinely enhance capital efficiency rather than merely staying at superficial accounting data, as well as whether its community governance can shift from short-term interest-driven "profit-seekers" to active ecological co-builders participating in long-term value distribution.

If a consumption chain project only uses "lowering the threshold" as a guise for "traffic harvesting", it is bound to become a tool for "shell swapping and harvesting leeks"; only by deeply binding technological innovation with user value can it secure a place in the industry transformation.