2 days ago
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Key Takeaways:
- Most tokens fail because protocol revenue never reaches token holders.
- VC-backed projects create forced selling pressure from day one of listing.
- Hyperliquid returns 97% of revenues to buy back its own token.
- Crypto investors have matured – cash flows to token holders now matter.
Arthur Hayes has been advising crypto projects long enough to watch the same pattern repeat. A team raises money, launches a token, and within months the price is lower than the listing price. Most people attribute this to market conditions, bad timing, or weak sentiment. Hayes has a more specific diagnosis.
“You do not give any of the economic value you created at the protocol level back to the token holders.” he says
That’s the sentence that explains most of crypto’s graveyard. A protocol generates real revenue, trading fees, lending spreads, protocol income, and none of it flows to the people holding the token. Instead, the token exists purely as a vehicle for early investors and the te...
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