Will VC coins slightly recover and break the dilemma of market imbalance?

Author: Pzai, Foresight News

In recent months, the cryptocurrency market has seen a surge of emerging projects. It seems that after the MEME wave, the market is shifting back towards ecological projects, which in turn has revived altcoins. New projects such as KAITO, IP (Story Protocol), and Berachain have garnered widespread attention, with varying degrees of price increases. Can the revival of these "VC tokens" break the market's dilemma of being in a transitional phase? This article will analyze from the perspectives of community-driven initiatives and market trends.

KAITO

KAITO is an InfoFi attention distribution layer based on cryptocurrency, where Yaps utilizes AI algorithms on Twitter to extract attention signals and quantify them. This advanced model has set a new standard for crypto projects. Before KAITO issued its tokens, several projects (such as Berachain, ANIME, and Story Protocol) had already provided corresponding airdrops to KAITO Yappers, reflecting its strong influence.

On February 20, KAITO AI officially opened token claims. As of the time of writing, 28.75% of the 100 million KAITO tokens have been claimed. During this airdrop frenzy, KOLs benefited the most. According to Lookonchain monitoring, well-known crypto KOL Ansem received an airdrop of 215,113 KAITO tokens and sold them for 76 ETH (approximately $206,000). The total supply of KAITO is 1 billion tokens, with 25% allocated to core contributors; 32.2% to ecosystem and network growth; 10% to initial community and ecosystem claims; 7.5% to long-term creator incentives; 5% to liquidity incentives; 8.3% to early supporters; and 10% to the foundation, with an overall circulating supply of 241 million tokens at launch.

KAITO's popularity also quickly attracted Binance's attention, leading to its listing on the Binance HODLer airdrop (accounting for 2% of the total). As of the time of writing, KAITO tokens are priced at $1.60, with a market cap of $386 million, nearly doubling from its low.

Story Protocol

Story Protocol is a blockchain for intellectual property that allows creators to create, manage, and license on-chain IP, providing a simplified framework to manage the entire lifecycle of IP development, supporting features such as source tracking, frictionless licensing, and revenue sharing. In its recent technical roadmap, Story indicated that it is collaborating with Stanford FDCI to explore cutting-edge technologies such as performance optimization and on-chain storage, promoting the blockchainization of intellectual property. In terms of token economics, 38.4% is allocated to the ecosystem and community, with an initial incentive of 10%. In terms of circulation, the community has received a relatively broad allocation.

Compared to many tokens with strong VC backgrounds during this cycle, they have received significant support from a16z in previous funding rounds. Although there was some market downturn impact before the token TGE, recently, its "on-chain Disney" narrative seems to have sparked considerable market enthusiasm. After launching on February 13, the IP token dropped to around $1.4 at its lowest but subsequently rose. As of the time of writing, IP is priced at $5.20, reaching a high of $9, with a market cap of $1.3 billion, having tripled from its low.

Berachain

Berachain is a high-performance EVM-compatible chain built on a proof-of-liquidity consensus (PoL). Its unique consensus mechanism provides users with a closed-loop flywheel from DeFi yields to governance, directly rewarding users who contribute to trading liquidity. This mechanism not only optimizes the DeFi user experience but also allows ordinary users to earn yields by providing liquidity while participating in Berachain's governance. In terms of data, Berachain's TVL has shown a steady upward trend, accumulating $3.2 billion in TVL as of the time of writing.

In terms of token economics, 16.8% is allocated to initial core contributors; 34.3% to investors; 28.9% for current and future community incentives; and 20% to ecosystem and R&D. In terms of price performance, despite the previous market trend causing the BERA token to drop to $4.7, the steady increase in TVL since February 13 has stabilized the price of the BERA token and accelerated capital inflow as the market warms up. As of the time of writing, BERA has reached a high of $9.62, with a market cap of $900 million, nearly doubling from its low.

Conclusion

From the above analysis, it can be seen that the circulation ratios of various tokens are relatively low (less than 25%), and most of the initial airdrop portions will be released, leading to significant selling pressure in the early stages. However, as the token economy is implemented (such as the launch of staking functions and TVL driving the token economic flywheel), the true value of the tokens will be reflected through market sentiment. The presence of market makers may also influence token trends; for example, Wintermute serves as a market maker for KAITO, creating certain expectations for the market.

In recent months, in a market dominated by MEME, traders have shown little interest in similar VC-backed projects, leading to price declines after listing on exchanges, which in turn undermines user confidence, creating a vicious cycle. However, recent projects seem to be breaking this cycle and striving to find more sustainable development paths. These project teams are beginning to consciously emphasize the core concepts of community governance and decentralization; they are focusing more on incentive compatibility in token design to ensure long-term consistency of interests among all parties; and finally, project parties are placing greater emphasis on deep interaction with the community to establish genuine trust with users. We also hope to see more projects take further steps.