Recently, yet another batch of projects involving social mining, point farming, and identity badge gimmicks has popped up. Basically, they’re just packaging “online check-in” as an on-chain ritual with a sense of ceremony. I saw someone in the group completing more than ten tasks in a day—like collecting stamps at a supermarket to trade for a pot—only to find out that the pot turns out to be just like that… and in the end, time gets hollowed out instead.

What’s even funnier is that outside of all this, people are still tying together and interpreting ETF capital flows, U.S. stock risk appetite, and the rises and falls of the crypto market. When emotions run hot, everyone is even more likely to get carried away and go chasing “identity.” But on-chain address retention won’t get better just because you’ve added a badge to your avatar, and the losing book won’t shrink by even a little because of it.

Right now, I’m watching two things: whether real trades keep happening, and whether real users are actually sticking around. If you can snag points easily, go ahead—just don’t turn yourself into a goldfish holding its breath underwater, working hard for half a day just to exchange it for a single bubble. That’s it for now.