I started recording what I’m really ordering for when buying NFTs in the secondary market: is it because I like the work, or just because I’m afraid of missing out. Recently, the whole royalties issue has been getting quite heated. It’s reasonable for creators to want long-term cash flow, but once trading platforms lower the barriers, buyers start saying, “I’m taking on the risk—why am I still getting another slice taken out of me?” Basically, both sides are afraid of being treated like suckers.

Social mining, fan tokens—the whole “attention equals mining” idea sounds lively. But when I write it down, I find that attention is really easy to get siphoned away, and in the end it’s still the people willing to keep delivering who remain. For someone like me, who prefers stability, I’d rather treat my positions like a potted plant and prune them: less impulsiveness, more patience. Whether it’s royalties or incentives, the key is whether they can make people actually want to stay long-term.