Berachain Founder's Entrepreneurial Reflection: Don't Let Tokens Drag Down Your Project
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Berachain Founder's Entrepreneurial Reflection: Don't Let Tokens Drag Down Your Project
Don't focus only on the tree right in front of you while ignoring the entire forest.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: SmokeyTheBera, Chief Bear at Berachain
Translated by: zhouzhou, BlockBeats
Editor's Note: This article discusses the recent trend of multiple projects launching tokens within the Berachain ecosystem and cautions founders against issuing tokens prematurely. Tokens should drive growth only after product-market fit has been achieved; otherwise, they may harm user adoption. In a bearish market with limited community capital, declining token prices can damage a product’s reputation. Token launches should avoid clustering in time, ensure reasonable valuations, and focus on long-term value rather than short-term exits. The author supports Berachain’s development but emphasizes that success requires patience and strategy—teams should prioritize profitability and user growth first.
Below is the original text (slightly edited for clarity):
Hey friends of Berachain — this is my first attempt at writing an article. While it’s primarily focused on the Berachain ecosystem, I hope some of these insights resonate more broadly, especially with teams considering token issuance.
Recently, I’ve seen multiple teams within Berachain either launching or preparing to launch new tokens in the coming weeks—about eight projects in total. On one hand, this is something to celebrate: new tokens can spark economic activity, generate speculation, and even fuel protocol growth. There could be a wealth effect, and if native tokens perform well, the entire Berachain ecosystem benefits.
But we also need to step back and think deeply about what value token issuance actually brings. Once you issue a token, your product’s public perception becomes inevitably tied to its price. Very few projects escape this reality unless they have no direct competitors or are early pioneers (like 1Inch, Compound).
In today’s on-chain environment, most altcoins—and even the broader market—are subject to market gravity. A persistently declining token price can directly hurt product adoption.
Timing of Token Launch Is Crucial
Ideally, a token should be launched when the product has already demonstrated product-market fit and is entering a phase of explosive growth. It should serve as a reward for early users who helped get the product to this point, and act as a tool to accelerate asymmetric growth—not become a burden that hinders adoption.
Now, let me share some hard truths I’d normally only say in private conversations.
The Market Won’t Wait, and Your Community Can’t Save You
No matter how loyal your community is, a consistently falling price chart will impact adoption. Right now, the trajectory for most tokens is “down only.” And in Berachain’s case, your token is an “alt on an alt”—while even top-tier chains like Solana struggle to find buyers, are you sure this is the right moment to launch?
You need to ask yourself honestly: Who is the marginal buyer of my token?
If you don’t have a clear, differentiated answer—if you can’t ensure your token distribution reaches new potential buyers—then I urge you to reconsider. Don’t do it just for a short-term dopamine hit. The answer is not “the community.”
The community will support you, use your products, and make opportunistic investments. But their capital is finite. They cannot save your token. Founders must focus on long-term survivability, not short-term market timing.
Some say market timing is unpredictable—I partially agree. But you can build a product that’s “default alive,” profitable, and perhaps even conduct buybacks at the right time to create real value for token holders (of course, legally compliant).
Let me be clear: launching a token doesn’t make your job easier—it amplifies everything:
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If the token goes up, your product is seen as S-tier, your team invincible, everyone chasing you.
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If the token goes down, you’re called a scammer, your product deemed worthless, your team mocked as incompetent—even attacked for taking VC money.
Of course, it’s not all black and white. Some protocols have genuine core utility for tokens—certain DeFi products require tokens to function. But those cases are rare and don’t apply to most projects.
How to Properly Launch a Token
If you’re truly committed to launching a token, at least keep these points in mind:
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Coordinate with other projects in the ecosystem. Avoid scheduling multiple token launches too close together, which dilutes demand.
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Give the market time and space for capital to rotate—don’t crowd-surf and fight over scraps.
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Don’t overvalue your token. If you’ve done private fundraising, launching at flat valuation might be more reasonable given current market conditions.
Key Takeaways
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If your product is already generating revenue, double down on growth, increase earnings, optimize distribution—don’t rush to launch a token.
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Make your product default alive—ideally truly profitable—with room for future buybacks.
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Tokens can affect adoption. Users often engage with non-tokenized projects hoping for future airdrops, but seeing a falling token price may cause them to abandon the project entirely.
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In the current market, tokens in the $10M–$200M market cap range fall into a “no man’s land” of price discovery—capital either flows into stablecoin yield farming or hyper-speculative low-cap shitcoins.
Wrong reasons to launch a token: investor pressure, community expectations, team wanting to cash out.
Right reasons to launch a token: proven PMF, and a clear roadmap showing how the token drives growth.
My Concerns for the Berachain Ecosystem
Right now, there are too many token launches happening within Berachain. I worry this could cause many teams to shoot themselves in the foot regarding adoption and traction. Ultimately, this might lead to two extremes:
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One extreme: Berachain develops a highly loyal core community and grows steadily over time.
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The other extreme: future builders look at the current situation and decide never to launch on Berachain again.
Optimistically, these tokens might exceed expectations and boost product growth—or at least allow founders to learn real lessons from failure.
I wrote this because many people have privately asked me about my thoughts on the recent TGEs in Berachain. I’ve always supported the Builders on Bera. I want them to succeed—but more importantly, I want them to succeed in the long run.
This might sound cliché, but crypto is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve all been in this industry for years—we know the truth.
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