In the world of blockchain, hotspots are always emerging, and this time, the time tokenization platform time.fun in the Solana ecosystem has become the focus.
It not only received public support from Solana but also attracted the participation of many well-known investment institutions and industry leaders. Anatoly Yakovenko (toly), co-founder of Solana, even personally got involved and created his own time token, which once surged to a market value of $20 million. This series of actions quickly made time.fun a hot topic in the market.
But what exactly is time.fun? Can it break the curse of celebrity tokens being a "flash in the pan"? This article will delve into the operational mechanism, gameplay, and significance behind this platform.
time.fun: An innovative experiment in tokenizing time
Founded in 2024, time.fun is a platform that tokenizes time. Its core idea is to allow KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) or influencers to tokenize their time or influence and establish a more direct connection with their fans.
Similar to the early friend.tech, time.fun provides KOLs with a channel to monetize their value, but its gameplay is more diversified and practical.
On time.fun, KOLs can price their services such as private messages, group chats, and voice/video calls, while fans need to spend corresponding tokens to redeem these services. If a KOL does not respond to a private message or call invitation within 5 days, the time tokens spent by the user will be refunded. This mechanism not only protects the rights and interests of users but also provides greater flexibility for KOLs.
The platform's revenue model is also quite attractive:
Transaction fees: Users incur transaction fees when trading time tokens, most of which will be automatically deposited into the token issuer's time.fun address.
Token redemption: When users redeem minutes to obtain KOL services, these tokens return to the liquidity pool, and the issuer will receive more than 94% of the redemption value.
From Base to Solana: The ecological migration of time.fun
time.fun initially operated in the Base ecosystem, but in November 2024, it announced its migration to Solana. This decision attracted widespread attention. Co-founder 0x Kawz explained the reason for the migration, stating that Solana has held an absolute leading position in most aspects over the past year, while the Ethereum ecosystem appears fatigued and overly technical.
He bluntly stated: "Ethereum feels like a group of philosophers looking down on ordinary people. If Ethereum cannot solve its cultural issues, as more builders like time.fun choose to migrate, Solana will continue to dominate."
This migration not only reflects the attractiveness of the Solana ecosystem but also brings more resources and opportunities to time.fun. Solana's high performance and low transaction costs provide strong support for the user experience of time.fun.
Gameplay analysis: From internal market to external market, an innovative attempt in token economics
The gameplay of time.fun is similar to pump.fun, but it also has some unique innovations:
1. Internal market trading: The price of each minute of user time is first traded in the platform's internal market. When the progress reaches 100%, the tokens will be launched to the external market, and liquidity will transfer from the joint curve to Raydium.
2. Token supply: Unlike pump.fun, the maximum supply of tokens created on the time.fun platform is 100,000.
Currently, creating tokens is not fully open; ordinary users need to contact the team to create tokens. Therefore, most users can only buy and sell other people's tokens on the platform. The specific operation is as follows:
Recharge: Users need to register using their email and bind their X account. After registration, each account will automatically generate a non-custodial address. The platform uses USDC for transactions, so users need to transfer USDC to their address.
Click the avatar in the upper right corner and select 'Deposit funds' to send USDC from exchanges or other chain addresses.
Trading: Once the tokens are launched to the external market, they can be traded using conventional trading tools (such as GMGN). On the platform, users can click 'Explore' to view all tradable tokens and choose to purchase corresponding minutes to redeem KOL services.
Randomly click on a token still in the internal market, as shown in the picture, the current progress of the joint curve is 47.53%, and the price is $0.48 per minute. If players want to send a private message to it, they need minutes worth $20. Players can choose the number of minutes they want to purchase on the right.
The dilemma of celebrity tokens and time.fun's breakthrough attempt
Celebrity tokens are not new in blockchain history. The popular friend.tech in 2023 was an early prototype of celebrity tokens, allowing KOLs to sell personal shares on the platform but ultimately evolving into the consumption of KOL influence and price speculation. By the time of pump.fun, celebrity tokens completely exposed their speculative nature, as many celebrities monetized their influence through token issuance, leading to a gradual decline in market enthusiasm for celebrity tokens.
The co-founder of time.fun, 0x Kawz, believes that the issuance of celebrity tokens needs to take place on a platform with revenue sources and utility. He stated: 'It is shortsighted to require celebrities to issue tokens arbitrarily without any process, utility, or plan. Celebrity/social tokens are inevitable, but they should be placed on a platform designed for revenue and utility.'
time.fun attempts to change the market's negative impression of celebrity tokens by providing utility and structured products. Celebrities do not need to earn income by buying and selling tokens, but can profit by offering structured products to their fans. Users can speculate on celebrity tokens or use tokens to gain exclusive access to celebrities.
The future of time.fun: Break the curse or repeat the mistakes?
With strong support from Solana, time.fun attempts to break the curse of celebrity tokens being a 'flash in the pan' through innovative mechanisms and practicality. However, the core issue with celebrity tokens is that they are easily dominated by speculative behavior, neglecting actual value. Whether time.fun can succeed depends on its ability to find a balance between speculation and utility.
If time.fun can continuously attract high-quality KOLs and provide real value to users, it is expected to become the next hot project in the Solana ecosystem. Otherwise, it may repeat the mistakes of friend.tech and pump.fun, ultimately becoming a purely speculative tool.
Regardless, the emergence of time.fun brings new thoughts and attempts to the blockchain field. It is not just a platform, but an experiment about time, influence, and value. We look forward to seeing if it can bring new vitality to celebrity tokens.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Investors should rationally view cryptocurrency investments based on their risk tolerance and investment objectives, and avoid blindly following trends.
