Recently, all kinds of points, badges, and identity features are making people a bit anxious. They keep reminding you, “You’re only a few more points away from upgrading.” Honestly, it’s pretty draining. Yesterday I just turned off notification alerts for several projects altogether—out of sight, out of mind.

In any case, if we put it plainly: those flashy badges, like TVL going up and down, look exciting, but if you really want to judge whether a protocol is good, you still need to look at whether active addresses and net inflows are genuinely moving. Layer2 has been making a lot of noise lately—arguing over TPS, fees, and subsidies—but in the end, users still care about which ecosystem can actually retain people.

My mindset is this: don’t empty yourself just to rack up points. First, look at the underlying data—be steadier before making a move.