From "Hardware" to "Software": The Seven-Piece Fundraising Toolkit for Public Chain Ecosystems
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From "Hardware" to "Software": The Seven-Piece Fundraising Toolkit for Public Chain Ecosystems
When I first entered the crypto industry, the term "public blockchain" was something very high-end and prestigious.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsI still remember when I first entered the crypto industry, the term "public blockchain" sounded incredibly prestigious.
When people mentioned public blockchains, they usually thought of ETH-like “general-purpose smart contract” or platform-type chains, rather than “one coin, one chain” models like BTC or LTC, which we mentally categorized simply as "coins."
Back then, every new platform-type blockchain launch was a major event. From early NEO to later EOS, and then Solana—each captured massive attention, surged in price, driven by the sentiment that “ETH has long been unbearable” (it was just too slow back then…).
Nowadays, public blockchains have entered an explosive, even oversaturated phase. The old "one coin, one chain" style represented by LTC or Monero has long been forgotten. New "one coin, one chain" setups now typically refer specifically to Cosmos Appchains. As for platform-type blockchains, there are easily dozens at a glance, and upon closer inspection, likely already numbering in the hundreds.
Has launching a blockchain really become that easy? Well, yes and no.
Yes, because spinning up a new chain today is indeed extremely fast. Gavin Wood famously launched a chain with Substrate in 15 minutes; more recently, Avax spun up a subnet in just 42 seconds via command line... Thanks to various chain-launching tools, the difficulty of creating a blockchain has dropped dramatically compared to before.
But is launching a blockchain merely about getting it to run?
Of course not. There’s a whole list of challenges waiting after launch—getting the chain running is just the beginning.
01 Let's Start with the Hard Stuff
1) Wallets
Everything starts somewhere. For a blockchain to be used by others, the very first thing you need is a wallet.
Today’s blockchains show extreme polarization in wallet support. For EVM-compatible chains—like various OP Stack L2s, Fantom, Polygon—you can simply add a network to MetaMask. But for non-EVM chains, it’s not so simple. They need their own “wallet ecosystem,” ideally a leading wallet, and the user experience must be excellent.
In this regard, Solana and Cosmos stand out as two of the best, with Phantom and Keplr offering exceptional experiences.
On the flip side, there are many cautionary tales: early NEO, later EOS, and current Polkadot and ICP. Their wallets are either extremely difficult to use, filled with counterintuitive designs, or still lack a standard or dominant player altogether...
In short, wallet experience can directly affect how vibrant a blockchain’s ecosystem becomes.
2) RPC Nodes
Early Bitcoin and ETH users had to run full nodes themselves when using wallets.
As blockchains have become more mainstream, few people do this anymore. Instead, wallet requests are forwarded directly to RPC nodes (RPC refers to services enabling interaction with EVM-compatible chains), making this aspect relatively centralized.
The vast majority of blockchains rely on RPC nodes provided by Infura or Alchemy. If either service goes down, the chains themselves often suffer significant disruptions. Decentralized alternatives exist—Pocket Network being one—but they remain in very early stages, reminiscent of EtherDelta during the early days of DEXs.
RPC nodes are infrastructure most users don’t notice—until something breaks. Poor performance here directly impacts user experience. Harmony is perhaps the most notorious example, constantly criticized by users on Discord and Twitter due to subpar RPC node quality...
3) Block Explorers
I assume every DeFi user has used Etherscan at some point.
While RPC operates behind the scenes, block explorers are front-facing tools used by both dApps and end-users, and their usability significantly shapes overall chain perception.
After all, blockchains pride themselves on trustlessness, transparency, and queryability—all of which depend heavily on what the block explorer displays.
So when testing a new blockchain, two things I always check first are the wallet and, more telling especially on EVM-compatible chains where wallets are mostly MetaMask clones, the quality of its block explorer—which is my second key evaluation point.
4) Mining Hardware (Optional)
Most next-gen blockchains no longer need this, but just a few years ago, PoW chains were all the rage, and mining hardware sold like hotcakes.
Among newer blockchains still sticking with PoW, only Nervos and Kadena come to mind—the rest, including ETH, have moved to PoS. This clearly reflects the trend.
Still, you’ll occasionally see die-hard PoW advocates tirelessly explaining PoW’s advantages over PoS in decentralization and technical robustness. In my view, they may well be right—but it doesn’t matter. Much like when MP3 players emerged, people could argue endlessly about CD audio quality being superior, yet within a few years, MP3s completely displaced CDs, only to later be replaced by cloud music in the 4G era.
The market has never been driven purely by technology. Seeing the trend clearly helps avoid many pitfalls.
I’ve long held this view: in the long run, there should be—and only be—one PoW chain: BTC.
02 Now Onto the Soft Stuff
1) Token Standards
You might think of DeFi components first—Dexes, lending/borrowing, stablecoins, etc.
These are important, but still rank second.
Top priority should be token standards—and this is critical!
If your blockchain doesn’t issue tokens, or if projects on it don’t launch tokens, what’s left to engage users? You might as well build a consortium chain.
ETH’s success owes much to its ERC standards. The most famous—ERC20 and ERC721—sparked the 2017 ICO wave and the 2021 NFT boom, respectively.
Therefore, for a new blockchain aiming for a thriving ecosystem, a unified token standard is essential.
A glaring failure here is ICP. Over a year after mainnet launch, it still lacked an official token standard, leaving its ecosystem largely in a state of “no usable tokens.” Perhaps the team initially hoped developers and users would organically evolve a standard through competition, but that didn’t work. Only in August this year did they introduce ICRC-1, a quasi-official fungible token standard.
2) The DeFi Big Five – Dex, Lending/Borrowing, Stablecoin, Oracle, Bridge
Originally three core components, but now oracles and bridges are also essentials—so let’s call it five.
-
Dex
The most crucial component. Even if a new chain has nothing else, it needs a swap—usually a fork of Uniswap or Sushi. This acts as the chain’s primary trading platform, clearly a top priority. -
Lending/Borrowing
This functions like commercial banking, ranking second in importance. It trails Dex partly because value capture is weaker—revenue can’t compare—and partly because demand for borrowing on new chains tends to be low. Take Cosmos: Osmosis is blazing hot, yet lending protocols—whether veteran Kava or newcomer Umee—are largely ignored. -
Stablecoin
Ideal scenario: having a native stablecoin. But that usually requires scale and maturity to attract Tether or Circle to bring USDT or USDC into the ecosystem. Until then, you can only “borrow” them from Ethereum via bridges. UST was an exception—unfortunately, it collapsed… -
Oracle
In the past, many chains tried building their own oracle solutions. Now, most have given up—why bother when Chainlink is readily available? -
Bridge
Critical gateway for stablecoins and major assets—also a prime target for hackers, yet absolutely necessary. Cosmos has an edge here: within its ecosystem, IBC enables direct transfers without bridges. Bridges are only needed when connecting to ETH or other external chains.
3) NFTs and Domains
This wasn’t visible last year, but now it’s almost standard for every blockchain.
Nowadays, nearly every chain has its own version of Punks or Apes—though prices can’t compare to the originals. The standout is Solana’s NFT ecosystem, featuring high-value collections like Degods and MagicEden, an NFT marketplace actively challenging OpenSea.
Beyond NFTs, domains are increasingly becoming standard infrastructure, led by ENS.
We now have .eth, .sol, .bit, .bnb, .etc, .icp, .dot, .evmos… Soon, every blockchain will likely offer its own domain suffix to simplify address management and usage.
Finally, if you can think of other directions for blockchain infrastructure, feel free to share and discuss in the comments below!
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