Recently, I’ve again been seeing a bunch of PFPs upgraded into “membership cards” and “brand passes.” To put it bluntly, it’s packaging the emotional value of an avatar into a long-term narrative. It’s not that it can’t work, but I’ve become more and more concerned: besides group chats and whitelists, what actually ends up lasting? In a bear market, the fun is the most expensive. After the tide of attention recedes, what usually remains is just a single image and a bunch of unfulfilled promises.

The same goes for the whole “re-staking” and “shared security” setup—it stacks layer upon layer of returns. I can understand why people complain that it’s a “shell game.” When things are hot, everyone thinks they’re building “infrastructure.” When things cool down, people start calculating risk and asking who’s going to cover the downside.

I no longer believe the kind of claim that “if you just build a community, you’ll definitely have a moat.” Anyway, I still lean toward going slower: I’d rather see the project spell out its product, permissions, and cash flow clearly before deciding whether to tie my identity to it. That’s it for now.