Talking about L2, many tokens are either used for payments or for voting, with prices decoupled from network activity, leaving holders as mere spectators of curve fluctuations. Based on the material you provided, I am more concerned with LINEA's other path: embedding tokens into the operational process itself, where holding means participating in cash flow and security supply, rather than waiting for the next emotional rebound.
LINEA makes execution thinner, but solidifies the value loop. Gas is still settled using ETH, with verifiable finality on the main chain, while network profits are diverted into two pillars: one part is directly burned as ETH, and the other part is repurchased and burned in the open market as $LINEA, converting activity intensity into synchronized scarcity of the two assets. This is not 'telling a story and then destroying it', but rather writing every usage into the supply curve.
The staking on the operational side is no longer just a facade. The network evolves towards the PoS sequential layer, willing to stake $L$LINEA points to gain packaging and sorting rights, thereby sharing transaction fees and systemic income. The sorting right is not just a medal; it forces the operators to deliver measurable service quality in terms of latency, packet loss, and reorganization. Malicious behaviors will be corrected by economic consequences, while positive behaviors will be rewarded by earnings.
The implicit value in the traffic is being redistributed. Linea has designed an MEV auction aimed at the sorting phase, making priority pricing transparent, allowing strategy bots to bid for preemptive or bundled payments, with the proceeds returned to stakers rather than ending up in a black box. For token holders, this is more like a dividend rather than an airdrop; it is a cash response to real demand, not a one-time noise amplification.
The proof market allocates ZK costs to those willing to bear them. Linea needs to continuously generate validity proofs, with Provers as the supply-side stakers or users of LINEA tokens taking orders, earning fees based on workload and timeliness. The busier the on-chain transactions, the more proof tasks there are; the demand and usage scenarios of the tokens naturally link, making tokens no longer 'speculative certificates' but rather the medium of exchange in production processes and risk deposits.
Bringing abstraction down to a tangible scenario: you operate a DEX on Linea while staking $LIN$LINEA or submitting a prover single. Every user match generates network fees and may trigger a priced priority demand; you share the income based on the staking share and achieve a tighter supply curve through buyback and burn. Earnings no longer rely solely on market-making spreads but are supplemented by infrastructure dividends and long-term supply contraction.
This model, which binds tokens to work, leads to a healthier curve post-issuance. More supply is allocated to the ecosystem and long-term unlocks, with value clearly tied to throughput, proof, and sorting, rather than passively driven by event cycles. For institutions and developers, what matters is not whether governance exists, but whether there is a clear pairing of benefits and responsibilities.
If L2 is to upgrade from 'low-fee high-speed' to 'financial infrastructure,' tokens must transform from event tickets into production materials. Linea treats ETH as the blood of settlement and LINEA tokens as the operational texture, forming a closed loop through staking, MEV earnings, and proof markets: the more the network is used, the more cash flow there is, the tighter the supply, the more active the participation, and the more stable the security boundary. This design does not rely on slogans; it focuses on auditable cash flows and accountable participation relationships.
