The relationship between Web3 and Token Economy

Web3 is synonymous with “decentralized internet,” where the core idea is that users own data, participate in governance, and share value. The Token Economy is the key tool to realize this vision.

In Web3, almost every platform or protocol issues its own Token, which not only represents usage rights but also carries benefits and decision-making power. Through token design, the platform can break free from the traditional binary structure of “shareholders/users” and construct an economic consensus of “users as shareholders.”

Incentive Mechanism: From Users to Collaborators

In Web2, user behavior is primarily harvested by the platform, such as creating content and inviting friends, without clear rewards. In the Web3 ecosystem, the Token economic model encourages users to actively participate through a “behavior equals incentive” approach.

Common Web3 incentive methods include:

• Airdrop: for example, Arbitrum distributes governance tokens to early users;
• Use liquidity mining: similar to Uniswap rewards for liquidity providers;
• Creator Incentives: For example, Lens Protocol users can directly receive Token rewards for posting content;
• Participating in governance can also earn rewards: enhance community engagement.

This mechanism effectively promotes the ecological prosperity of “participating as you use, co-building as you use.”

Governance Mechanism: How does DAO operate?

Governance in Web3 is mostly carried out by DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). The core operating logic of a DAO is that Token holders make decisions together:

• Whoever holds the tokens has the right to propose and vote;
• How the project upgrades and how the funds are used are decided by the community.
• Some DAOs even distribute income dividends based on the proportion of Token holdings.

For example, DeFi protocols like Curve and Aave have shifted to community governance, and Token Economy has become an important channel for decentralization.

User asset confirmation and value attribution

In Web3, tokens not only represent incentives but also true “ownership”. Users hold tokens or NFTs through their wallet addresses, which means they own the asset without relying on a centralized platform.

This is particularly evident in the following aspects:

• Blockchain Games GameFi: In games like Axie Infinity, character assets are owned by the players;
• Creation platform: In Mirror, creators can receive NFT or Token rewards for publishing content;
• Identity System: Similar to the ENS domain name system, domain ownership is confirmed on-chain in the form of tokens.

This directly ties users’ contributions to their earnings, reinforcing the Web3 concept of “value returning to users.”

Analysis of Typical Web3 Cases

Here are several representative projects that successfully apply Token Economy in Web3:

• Uniswap: Achieving community governance through UNI Token while incentivizing LP participation;
• Arbitrum: Airdrop governance token ARB to users, promoting ecosystem decentralization;
• ENS (Ethereum Name Service): Issuing ENS tokens for governance to promote open and transparent domain registration;
• Optimism: Building a “public goods economy” to support developers and users in thriving together using Tokens.

These cases not only demonstrate the use of Tokens but also reflect the evolution of the Web3 value system.

Future Challenges and Development Directions

Despite the impressive performance of the Token Economy in Web3, it still faces numerous challenges:

• The design of the economic model is unreasonable, leading to severe deflation or inflation.
• Users have a strong speculative mentality and lack motivation for long-term holding.
• Low participation in governance, resulting in the hollowing out of the DAO;
• The uncertainty of regulatory policies affects the legitimacy and trading convenience of Tokens.

In the future, with the improvement of on-chain governance tools and the gradual maturity of the Token economic model, along with the supporting identity protocols and reputation mechanisms, the Token Economy will further drive Web3 to evolve from “decentralized technology” to “a fully participatory ecosystem.”