2025-12-30 04:22:51

Assessing the true profitability of a crypto project hinges on understanding one key figure: net contribution revenue.

How to calculate it? It's actually simple—revenue captured by the treasury minus all costs. These costs include infrastructure, security audits, legal compliance, employee salaries, contractor fees, and various operational expenses.

But there's a common pitfall here: high trading volume, high TVL (Total Value Locked), and market buzz—these flashy numbers don't necessarily equate to income. Unless the protocol itself can truly retain fees, these metrics are just vanity indicators.

There's also a frequently overlooked real cost—token incentives and various subsidies. Don't treat these as free "growth hacking" perks; they are tangible economic costs that directly erode net contribution.

So next time you evaluate a project, peel back the surface prosperity and work backwards from this perspective to see whether the project is genuinely profitable or just burning cash.

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TokenDustCollector

· 01-02 02:05

Really, how many people are blinded by the numbers of TVL and trading volume, only to find out after checking the accounts that it's just burning coins. Token incentives are the most deceptive part; it looks like growth but is actually just giving away money. It should have been included in the cost calculation long ago. Net contribution income, to put it simply, is about peeling away all the fancy layers to see if the project’s pocket truly contains real cash.

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GateUser-c802f0e8

· 01-02 00:38

Don't just look at TVL and trading volume; those are just numbers. You need to dig deeper to see where the real money is.

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ContractBugHunter

· 2025-12-31 09:42

It’s just that most projects are using tokens to incentivize and deceive themselves. Having a high TVL is useless; what really matters is how much they can actually retain.

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LiquiditySurfer

· 2025-12-30 18:23

Net income? Basically, it’s just how much is left in the treasury. After subtracting all those messy expenses, that’s the real figure. High TVL doesn’t necessarily mean profitability, I’ve known that for a long time... Many projects are just relying on subsidies to bluff their way through. Token incentives are like free lunches; in the end, someone has to foot the bill.

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DancingCandles

· 2025-12-30 04:52

That's so true. Most projects that hype up TVL in the market are just burning investors' money, stacking data with subsidies. To put it simply, it's about whether they can truly become self-sustaining. Don't be fooled by vanity metrics. This is the correct way to evaluate a project. Unfortunately, 99% of people are still fixated on leaderboard rankings.

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LiquidationAlert

· 2025-12-30 04:51

Got it, another article exposing vanity metrics, but the problem is that most people simply don't want to see the truth... Basically, it's just about doing the math, but unfortunately 99% of project teams are reluctant to reveal the true costs. The token incentives part is really ridiculous, burning money while calling it "ecosystem growth," hilarious.

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SatsStacking

· 2025-12-30 04:49

Got it, it's the same old story. When TVL is high, everyone starts bragging. This time, someone finally called it out clearly. How many projects can truly make money? Most are just burning investors' money. The token incentives part is the funniest; dressing subsidies up as growth hacking. Wake up, everyone. Those who only look at surface data should be cut once. If the protocol can't retain fees, it's just an empty shell. Simple and straightforward, but effective.

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ruggedNotShrugged

· 2025-12-30 04:41

Good grief, another article in the "Look at how your shiny numbers are fake" series... but it really hits the mark. TVL is just a big joke; I’ve seen so many projects die right here. The part about token incentives is correct; too many people think burning money equals growth. Wake up, everyone.

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DEXRobinHood

· 2025-12-30 04:39

Wow, someone finally told the truth. Most of the projects that constantly boast about hitting new TVL highs, eight out of ten are just burning money.

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