Recently, while scrolling through Twitter, I suddenly realized something rather unsettling—the crypto space seems to be increasingly hijacked by the pursuit of traffic.

I’ve seen people meticulously photoshop images to create viral moments, some make up outrageous stories just to get retweets, and others film unboxing videos only to quietly return the products afterwards. Even more outrageous, some platforms have started using borderline marketing tactics: the CEO suddenly pulls a stunt and says something provocative, followed by a “brand new intern claps back at the boss” reversal script, and recently there’s been some sort of kissing-themed co-branded card...

It’s hard to imagine these tactics actually come from the marketing departments of legitimate companies.

But the problem is, this playbook really does have a market. Every time a farce occurs, the comment section is still buzzing, and retweet numbers still break ten thousand. Viewers complain, but still watch till the end; brands get criticized, but they’re still feasting on the traffic.

Maybe the answer is simple: when traffic can be directly converted into profit, the bottom line inevitably keeps getting lower. After all, in the attention economy, being criticized is still better than being ignored.