Over the past two years, the stringent regulatory environment has led the crypto ecosystem to make a collective choice—project teams have shifted their focus from tokens to equity structures, fearing compliance risks. This conservative strategy once became the mainstream understanding in the industry, as if the token era had already come to an end. However, as policy environments gradually loosen, this judgment needs to be re-evaluated.



From nearly eight years of experience in cryptocurrency analysis, the debate between tokens and equity has never been a zero-sum "either-or" issue, but rather a complementary relationship requiring clear division of roles. During periods of strict regulation, policies indeed pushed the industry onto a more cautious path, protecting market stability but also limiting on-chain innovation. Many projects were forced to shift value-bearing to equity structures, resulting in the on-chain ecosystem's value cycle never truly being connected—equity manages off-chain assets and company operations, while on-chain value flow depends on token mechanisms to be realized.

The real opportunity lies in understanding the fundamental differences between the two. The core advantage of tokens is enabling autonomous ownership of digital assets. Holding Bitcoin or Ethereum essentially means owning the discourse rights over these on-chain infrastructures. This ownership is direct and decentralized, something that traditional equity models cannot replicate. On the other hand, the strength of equity lies in managing offline resources, compliance credentials, and team operations—responsibilities that tokens cannot bear.

The future development direction should be: allowing tokens to focus on on-chain value transfer and community governance, while equity concentrates on corporate governance and offline operations. This division of roles and cooperation can truly unleash the potential of the crypto ecosystem.
ETH-0.78%
View Original
This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.
  • Reward
  • 4
  • Repost
  • Share
Comment
0/400
PrivateKeyParanoiavip
· 5h ago
It should have been played this way all along—do tokens and equity have to be mutually exclusive? That's nonsense.
View OriginalReply0
VitaliksTwinvip
· 5h ago
Policy easing and the desire to revive the token narrative? Ha, I don't think so. It still depends on whether real money can flow back onto the chain.
View OriginalReply0
ArbitrageBotvip
· 5h ago
Well said, tokens and equity are not mutually exclusive; it's just a matter of division of labor.
View OriginalReply0
AllInAlicevip
· 5h ago
To be honest, walking on two legs is the right way, I've seen through this trick a long time ago.
View OriginalReply0
Trade Crypto Anywhere Anytime
qrCode
Scan to download Gate App
Community
English
  • 简体中文
  • English
  • Tiếng Việt
  • 繁體中文
  • Español
  • Русский
  • Français (Afrique)
  • Português (Portugal)
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • 日本語
  • بالعربية
  • Українська
  • Português (Brasil)