Every bull market brings new ways of token issuance, and understanding these trends can be the most profitable strategy. This cycle has emerged with the trend of point airdrops, with projects like Jito and Jupiter leading the way. However, as speculators actively acquire points, their gains from the airdrops often do not cover the costs incurred, resulting in a rapidly negative return on investment (ROI). The launch of high FDV tokens leaves little room for new buyers, marking the decline of point mechanisms. Now, I believe the market is self-adjusting. Due to a lack of interest from new buyers, the valuation of low-circulation tokens has declined, yet new tokens continue to be launched like in 2023—they raise funds for old mechanisms and design their Token Generation Events (TGE). The terms of lockup limit their growth potential. TGEs that do not adapt to new mechanisms are unlikely to perform well. The slower the adaptation of new token issuances, the longer the frenzy for Meme coins will last. Meme coins are the opposite of VC tokens because they have no real utility, no revenue, and no future products. Apart from meme coins, a significant change is that the market is returning to the period before point mechanisms emerged: protocols like Eigenlayer are shifting towards "programmatic incentives," indicating a return to liquidity mining. We are also seeing the rise of so-called private-public sales: on platforms like @echodotxyz and @legiondotcc, you can participate in and invest in deals involving VC participation. This implies lower valuations and lock-up periods, reminiscent of the ICO era, but participating in these deals also requires some social resources: on @echodotxyz, you need to be invited or accepted into exclusive groups. On @legiondotcc, you can participate based on your social or on-chain reputation. Your speculative activities can prove your "worth" to join the ranks of influencers and VCs. However, due to the limited number of participants, these methods cannot solve all token issuance issues. @CoinList "solved" this problem by randomizing access to ICO allocations. Interestingly, CoinList was launched many years ago, so we have come full circle! However, I believe that merit-based access is superior because it incentivizes you to build your own on-chain or off-chain reputation. Therefore, make sure you actively share your favorite projects on social media, as it may lead to token allocations for you. Eigenlayer and Avail are just two examples of the growth of the yap-to-earn model. Another potentially rising trend is the "Patron Sales" introduced by @infinex_app. Infinex combines the points system with merit-based ICOs, requiring you to earn points to participate in ICOs. Notably, for the first time in recent years, participating in token sales has become increasingly difficult, marking a shift from liquidity mining, fair distributions, and point mechanisms. It seems we have finally realized that simply distributing free tokens does not truly build a community! However, other trends are more open to everyone. Runes on Bitcoin can be issued by simply paying transaction fees, maintaining transparency even with an (optional) pre-mining feature. They address the issues of lack of transparency in VC rounds, pre-sales, low-circulation tokens, and meme coin issuances. Runes may offer the fairest token issuance model. You only need to pay Bitcoin transaction fees, and with Bitcoin's slower speed, it prevents over-issuance and wallet concentration, which sets it apart from other blockchains. An example is the GIZMO•IMAGINARY•KITTEN token, which was minted for free and currently trades at 26 times its initial listing price. Clearly, Runes lack smart contract capabilities, preventing them from becoming tokens with real utility, but more BTC L2s are adding these features. We are also experimenting with other minting models: Tap-to-earn, which is popular in many developing countries, seems to be waning in popularity. Community/social tokens: Friend tech pioneered this model, but monetizing communities through tokens on Farcaster/Lens is an emerging trend (e.g., $DEGEN). Active validation services: AVS supported by re-staking protocols enhance token utility (e.g., rsENA x Symbiotic and re-staking MKR), although most AVS tokens are currently issued as VC tokens. Hopefully, they can innovate in token issuance soon. More models are emerging, which is a good sign! Our goal is to identify and participate in these new token issuance activities. Try all of these and see which can earn you money relative to the effort you put in. One of these models (perhaps one I have not mentioned here, yet to emerge) will become the new hot trend, and when it does, it may be a good time to invest.