Many people believe that token incentives can sustain a protocol's revenue, but this logic has long been disproven by practice. In the short term, it may seem vibrant, with various liquidity mining and yield farming pushing the data to be very hot, and lock-up volumes soaring. But once the incentives weaken or stop, these false booms immediately reveal their true nature—users leave faster than anyone, trading volume halves, and the actual protocol revenue quickly becomes exposed and dies.

The fundamental reason is clear: token incentives attract arbitrageurs, not genuine users. They come solely to claim incentives, and once the returns decline, they immediately turn away, showing no real recognition of the protocol's value. Such superficial prosperity is as thin as paper.

Protocols that truly survive rely on solid functional needs and usage value. You need to make users feel that using your product itself is meaningful, not just because of token rewards. This is the true foundation for sustaining protocol revenue in the long run. Relying solely on incentives is destined to go nowhere.