Recently, when I wonder whether a project is actually doing things seriously, I end up checking treasury spending first—because it’s the most reassuring. The money is best spent on “deliverable milestones.” For example: audits/security, the infrastructure before and after launch, and partnership revenue sharing—if it takes longer to do, that’s fine. What I fear most is the kind where they come in swinging a huge amount of “branding/marketing,” the milestone plan is written like poetry, yet the on-chain transfers look like confetti. The NFT side is even more obvious: they talk about artistic narratives, but the cash flow depends entirely on propping up secondary markets… so I’ll lower my expectations a bit.

I’ve also recently heard that in a certain region, taxes are being increased and compliance is being tightened. The mood around deposits and withdrawals suddenly turns cautious. In fact, that also forces projects not to get too carried away: only if they truly have revenue and can truly sustain operations will they be able to hold up. My counterpart even complained, “Look—you’re checking the books more diligently than you’re checking my social media.” Fine… I’d rather move a bit slower anyway than let romance get me carried away.