摘要： Imagine having a machine that prints money — we’d all be rolling in riches!

Introduction

Imagine having a machine that prints money — we’d all be rolling in riches! Alas, as adults we realize that this dream we had as children is simply not feasible, due to the principle of inflation. When the money in circulation increases, the cost of goods and services increases accordingly. The principle that a burgeoning money supply causes high inflation is one of the basic laws of economics.

The dream-like machine often appears to take the shape of Play2Earn blockchain games. The idea is simple. Owning a crypto-asset allows players entry into the game ecosystem, which rewards players in native tokens which they can then cash out. The logical adult knows this is definitely too good to be true — and most of the time, such P2E games mirror Ponzi schemes. It is therefore not surprising that a common question regarding STEPN is usually regarding the sustainability of the game.

A previous article examining ponzinomics in detail concluded that in order for a P2E game to be sustainable, games both need to provide non–economic value for players, and have strong tokenomics. In this article, we will deep-dive into STEPN tokenomics and have a good feel of the longevity of the game.

Tokenomics

Tokenomics refers to the economics of a cryptocurrency token — what determines the value of a token? Simply put, it is all about the supply and demand of the token. Similar to any free-market asset, increased overall demand will naturally drive a higher price. It is thus one of the first things that any savvy investor looks at before deciding to put their money into a project or company.

The aim of any good token-based project is twofold. First, to ensure that the token is high in value, and gives investors good returns. Secondly, to ensure that these good returns are stable and sustainable over years. Now, while it seems like these two goals are at odds with each other, strong tokenomic management and dynamic response by the team make it possible. We will talk more about this later.

Let’s talk about supply. If a token is generated regularly over time with nothing to curtail its increasing supply, it would devalue over time. For example, if a token is worth $1 at a 100 total supply, it would be worth $0.10 if the supply increases to 1000 — assuming the demand stays the same. In order to reduce the supply, there need to be use cases where the token will be burnt. For example, paying a fee to level up a shoe burns the tokens, therefore reducing the total supply. These are also referred to as token sinks or burning mechanisms.

With regard to demand, people selling their tokens will cause the price to drop. Demand for a token can either be driven by strong use cases, or people buying because they think that the token price will increase in the future. The latter is often tied to high confidence in the project and the team.

It is clear that well-designed burn mechanisms are vital to the stability of a token and the longevity of a P2E game. This determines both the selling and buying pressure of tokens.

Another important factor to consider would be the allocation of the tokens. A common feature of poor tokenomics would be large quantities allocated to private investors, with little to no minimum lock-up time before they can sell it (AKA vesting period). This would allow them to sell it in bulk and cause the prices to dump.

Now that we have briefly covered what good tokenomics should look like, let us examine STEPN’s utility and governance token.

轉貼自： stepnofficial.medium.com

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