Bankless: New Ways of Token Economics in 2026

Author: David Hoffman

Compiled by: Jiahua, ChainCatcher

There is a "good coin" dilemma in the crypto space.

Most tokens are junk.

Most tokens have not been treated by teams with the same seriousness as equity, both legally and strategically. Since historically teams have never given tokens the same level of respect as equity companies, the market naturally reflects this in token prices.

Today, I want to share two sets of data that have given me some optimism about the state of tokens in 2026 and beyond:

MegaETH's KPI plan

Cap's stablecoin airdrop (Stabledrop)

Conditionalizing Token Supply

MegaETH has locked 53% of the total supply of MEGA tokens after a "KPI plan." The core idea is: if MegaETH does not meet their KPIs [Key Performance Indicators], these tokens will not be unlocked.

Therefore, in a bear market where the ecosystem is not growing, at least no more tokens will flow into the market to dilute holders. MEGA tokens will only enter the market when the MegaETH ecosystem truly achieves growth (as defined by the KPIs).

The KPIs of the plan are divided into four scoreboards:

1. Ecosystem growth (TVL, USDM supply)
2. MegaETH decentralization (progress in L2Beat stage)
3. MegaETH performance (IBRL)
4. Ethereum decentralization

Theoretically, as MegaETH achieves its KPI goals, the value of MegaETH should correspondingly increase, thereby buffering the negative price impact of MEGA dilution on the market.

This strategy feels very much like Tesla's compensation philosophy for Elon Musk of "only delivering results can earn rewards." In 2018, Tesla granted Musk an equity compensation package divided into several tranches, which only vested when Tesla simultaneously achieved continuously increasing market cap and revenue targets. Elon Musk could only earn $TSLA when Tesla's revenue increased and its market cap grew.

MegaETH is attempting to transplant some of this logic into their token economics. "More supply" is not a given—it's a right that the protocol must earn by truly scoring on meaningful scoreboards.

Unlike Musk's Tesla benchmarks, I do not see any KPI targets regarding MEGA's market cap in Namik's KPI goals—this may be for legal reasons. But as a public investor in MEGA, this KPI is certainly interesting to me.

Who Gets New Supply Matters

Another interesting factor in this KPI plan is which investors will receive MEGA when the KPIs are met. According to Namik's tweet, those who unlock MEGA are the ones who stake MEGA into the locking contract.

Those who lock more MEGA for a longer time will gain the right to access 53% of the MEGA tokens entering the market.

The logic behind this is simple: distribute the dilution of MEGA to those who have already proven to be MEGA holders and are interested in holding more MEGA—those who are least likely to sell MEGA.

The Trade-off of Aligned Interests

It is worth emphasizing the risks that this also brings. We have seen similar structures historically encounter serious problems. See this excerpt from Cobie's article: "ApeCoin and the Death of Staking"

If you are a token pessimist, a crypto nihilist, or simply a bear, this issue of aligned interests is what you are concerned about.

Setting token dilution based on KPIs that should reflect the growth of the MegaETH ecosystem is much better than any ordinary staking mechanism we saw during the yield farming era of 2020-2022. During that time, tokens would be issued regardless of whether the team made fundamental progress or whether the ecosystem grew.

So, ultimately, MEGA's dilution is:

Constrained by the corresponding growth of the MegaETH ecosystem

Diluted into the hands of those least likely to sell MEGA

This does not guarantee that MEGA's value will rise as a result—the market will do what it wants to do. However, this is an effective and honest attempt to address what seems to be a core underlying flaw affecting the entire crypto token industry.

Treat Your Tokens Like Equity

Historically, teams would "scattergun" distribute their tokens in the ecosystem. Airdrops, farming rewards, grants, etc.—if what they were distributing was truly valuable, teams would not engage in these activities.

Because teams distribute tokens as if they were worthless governance tokens, the market prices them as worthless governance tokens.

You can also see this same moral principle in MegaETH's approach to CEX (centralized exchange) listings, especially after Binance opened MEGA token futures on its platform (which is a method Binance has historically used to extort tokens from teams).

I hope teams become more selective about token distribution. If teams start to treat their tokens as treasures, perhaps the market will respond in kind.

Cap's "Stablecoin" Airdrop

The stablecoin protocol Cap did not adopt the traditional airdrop method but instead launched a "stablecoin airdrop" (Stabledrop). They did not airdrop their native governance token CAP but distributed their native stablecoin cUSD to users who farmed through Cap points.

This method rewards point farming users with real value, thereby fulfilling their social contract. Users who deposit USDC into Cap's supply side bear the risks and opportunity costs of the smart contract, and the stablecoin airdrop compensates them accordingly.

For those who want CAP itself, Cap is conducting a token sale through Uniswap CCA. Anyone seeking CAP tokens must become a real investor and put in real capital.

Filtering Committed Holders

The combination of the stablecoin airdrop and token sale filters out committed holders. Traditional CAP airdrops might flow to speculative wash traders who might sell immediately. By requiring capital investment through the token sale, Cap ensures that CAP flows to participants willing to bear all downside risk in exchange for upside potential—this group is more likely to hold long-term.

The theoretical basis is that this structure increases the probability of CAP's success by establishing a concentrated holder base aligned with the protocol's long-term vision, rather than using imprecise airdrop mechanisms to hand tokens to those only focused on short-term profits.

Token Design is Maturing

Protocols are becoming increasingly smart and precise in their token distribution mechanisms. No longer are there scattergun-style, net-like token emissions—MegaETH and Cap have chosen to be highly selective about who can receive their tokens.

"Optimized distribution" is no longer in vogue—this may be a malignant legacy left over from the Gensler (former chair of the SEC, known for a tough regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies) era. Instead, both teams are optimizing concentration to provide a stronger holder base.

I hope that as more applications launch in 2026, they can observe and learn from some of these strategies, even improving upon them, so that the "good coin dilemma" is no longer a dilemma, and all that remains are "good coins."