Recently, I’ve been watching the NFT secondary market slash royalties again and again. Put simply, creators are like being told, “You’re only allowed to generate electricity—but not allowed to collect the electricity fee.” I’m stacking up candlestick chart patterns while also flipping through on-chain data. The trading volume is back a little, but the same familiar faces moving in and out of wallets still look pretty recognizable… It’s lively, sure, but I feel a bit empty inside.

Airdrop season is the same way. The task platforms’ anti-bot/anti-cheat measures turn the points system into like clocking in for work. The “hairy”/airdrop-harvesting crowd gets so competitive it makes them question life itself, while creators feel more like they’re writing weekly reports for algorithms. Anyway, I’d rather make fewer trades now and spend more time seeing who’s truly making content and building communities—even if it’s slower. At least it’s not just leftover vanity made of “liquidity.” To wrap up with a rhyme: when royalties are gone, don’t get too carried away—staying alive is the next play.