When everything becomes dirt cheap or even free, where's the motivation? If costs drop to near zero, why would anyone bother building products or putting in the work?



It sounds like a paradox, but it's actually a fundamental question about tokenomics and incentive design in Web3 projects. Here's the thing: in a blockchain ecosystem, value doesn't vanish—it just shifts. True cost reduction through automation or efficiency unlocks new economic models. Miners, validators, and developers still earn rewards through tokens, governance rights, or network participation. The incentive doesn't disappear; it gets restructured. That's how sustainable crypto economies actually function.
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SatoshiHeirvip
· 18h ago
It should be pointed out that this article overcomplicates the issue. The theory of value transfer was already discussed and validated by the community in the 2015 publication "Token Incentive Mechanism Design"—the fundamental logic is actually just one sentence: zero cost ≠ zero value. But there's a critical flaw that you all haven't seen through...
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GasGuruvip
· 18h ago
Lower costs ≠ disappearance of motivation; it's just a redistribution. Miners and validators still enjoy the good life.
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GovernancePretendervip
· 18h ago
Well, that's true, but the real problem is that most projects simply can't design effective incentive mechanisms. The token inflation spiral will inevitably explode sooner or later; value transfer sounds nice. In the early stages, you can rely on mining to suck value out, but what about later? Will users really pay for governance rights?
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BuyTheTopvip
· 18h ago
Haha, it's hilarious. The nice way to put it is "value transfer," and the less nice way is just cutting leeks with a different trick.
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