Recently, I’ve been seeing discussions about the creator economy again, and royalty disputes are popping back up. Honestly, I find it pretty moving: some project teams promise royalty protection at the start, but once the secondary market cools off, it turns into something “optional.” Put plainly, when it comes to liquidity, creators’ interests are always the easiest to get pushed all the way to the edge.

Anyway, I’ve always thought that respecting royalties isn’t moral blackmail—it’s the foundation that lets the ecosystem keep running over the long term. If creators can’t make money, how would there be any real incentive for great work to keep coming out? Relying on “working out of pure passion” can only last for, at most, a single cycle.

Recently, I’ve also been seeing new L1/L2 projects roll out incentives to pull TVL, and older users are mining while complaining about “mine, claim, and sell”—and honestly, that’s also pretty true. In the short term, it’s all about chasing gains, while in the long term it’s about building—and the two are always at odds. But history won’t reward people who stick around only to skim for freebies; maybe in the end, the ones who remain will be those willing to pay a bit more GAS for royalties.

As for me, I’m one of those stubborn old-timers, and I might be a little behind the times, but—anyway, let’s just take it slow.