Have you recently been anxious about your Binance points?
Do you also want to refresh your alpha points to claim an airdrop?
Have you also seen these titles and decided to give it a try?
Please believe in yourself; what you see may not be real!
Please believe in yourself; what you see may not be real!
You need to reflect more on the logic behind everything.
This way, you may go further and live longer in this circle!
What you see may be what some people want you to see
However, once you understand the logic behind this, you may realize something.
What should you be doing right now!
Next, I’ll tell you in detail about the Alpha Points that others dare not talk about, which are the real things!
Before understanding the 'pit', we first need to familiarize ourselves with the game rules:
1. Introduction to Alpha projects and points rules
Binance will launch the 'Alpha Points' (Alpha Program) in 2024, essentially a platform behavior points system designed to reward users' activity within the Binance ecosystem, such as trading, staking, using Web3 wallets, participating in new coin releases, etc.
3. Point Zeroing and Retention Mechanism
First: 15-day Rolling Mechanism:
Each point is valid for only 15 days;
Points obtained 15 days ago are automatically cleared every day;
Leads to 'continuous non-refreshing = clearing to zero', creating a 'perpetual point refreshing' trap.
Second: Point Consumption Mechanism:
Participating in airdrop lotteries, governance, internal testing, and other functions requires consuming points;
For example: DOOD airdrop requires consuming 15 points to participate in the lottery;
Some activities set 'hard thresholds' (e.g., must have at least 168 points to qualify);
Points consumed cannot be refunded and need to be replenished by refreshing points.
4. Points preferential and bonus rules
Two, The 'Pit' Under Welfare Part One: Creating a 'Perpetual Point Refreshing' Trap
15-day rolling zeroing mechanism
Points are only calculated based on the recent 15 days of trading and holdings, automatically invalidated after expiration, forcing players to engage in high-frequency trading to maintain point competitiveness, creating a 'perpetual motion machine' effect.
For example, if users want to participate in an airdrop, they need to refresh 10-12 points daily (corresponding to a daily trading volume of $1024), otherwise, all previous efforts will be in vain.
Non-linear growth threshold
The trading points rule is '1 point for every doubling of trading volume', for example, a trading volume of $32 earns 5 points, $64 earns 6 points, and $128 earns 7 points.
This exponential cost increase forces players to invest more capital, but the marginal return diminishes, resulting in actual returns far below expectations.
The hidden cost of double points activities
Binance launched BSC chain and limit order double points benefits, ostensibly lowering the threshold but actually consuming user funds through gas fees and slippage. For example, users need to frequently trade low liquidity tokens, which may ultimately devour profits due to price fluctuations and fees.
Three, The 'Pit' Under Welfare Part Two: 'Collusion Harvesting' Between Platforms and Big Players
Traffic data-driven
The essence of the points mechanism is a 'trading volume filter', creating false prosperity through point refreshing rules, enhancing trading data for Binance wallets and BNB Chain, attracting external funds. For example, Binance wallet market share skyrocketed from 8.3% to 95.7%, but most trades were driven by ineffective point refreshing.
Monopoly advantages of big players and studios
Rule design favors high-net-worth users: Holding over $100,000 earns only 3 extra points a day, but the high-frequency trading costs are extremely high for retail investors. Big players can easily refresh points through automated scripts and capital scale advantages, while retail investors have to bear higher slippage and gas fees, ultimately becoming data 'cannon fodder'.
Project party and platform's interest binding
Binance screens 'compliant projects' through points but actually condones low-quality projects going live. For instance, the scam project BalanceWeb3 harvested users through false promises and insider trading, yet was still included in the Alpha platform, exposing flaws in the review mechanism.
Four, The 'Pit' Under Welfare Part Three:
User Behavior's 'Algorithm Domestication'
Psychological Manipulation: Blurring expectations drives irrational behavior
The binding of points and Alpha airdrops creates 'uncertain rewards', compelling users to continuously invest for unknown returns. For instance, the DOOD airdrop sets a hard threshold of 168 points and lottery intervals, enticing users to refresh points excessively to avoid 'marginalization'.
Identity Symbolization: Points as on-chain 'sign of loyalty'
Points gradually evolve into 'ecological loyalty proof', where users are forced to comply with platform rules to obtain governance rights or priority qualifications. For example, Binance sets point retention thresholds to filter 'long-term loyal users', effectively locking up funds.
The cycle of consumption and replenishment trap
Users need to consume points to participate in airdrops (e.g., consuming 15 points each time), but replenishing points requires trading again, forming a 'refresh points → consume → refresh points' vicious cycle. For example, the MERL airdrop requires 193 points and consumes 15 points, necessitating continuous investment to maintain qualification.
Five, The 'Pit' Under Welfare Part Four:
Typical 'trap logic'
First: High-frequency point refreshing ≠ High returns: Diminishing marginal returns lead to high trading costs, ultimately resulting in returns lower than expected;
Second: Gas fees devour returns: Double points activities often rely on trading low liquidity tokens on BSC, making it prone to slippage/loss;
Third: Big players refresh points at low costs, while retail investors bear high costs;
Fourth: Points ≠ Airdrop: Participating in a lottery does not guarantee receiving an airdrop, and the probability of winning is unknown, with returns being unstable.
Crowding out effect and involution competition: The points mechanism leads resources to concentrate on the point refreshing track, squeezing out other ecological innovations. For example, 80% of DEX trading volume on the Solana chain is speculative on meme coins, suppressing real demand.
The risk of user trust overdraft: Frequent low-quality projects (like BalanceWeb3) and shrinking airdrop returns (e.g., the DOOD airdrop return rate is only 2%) weaken user confidence. In the long term, this may lead to 'voting with feet', resulting in a loss of ecological traffic.
Regulatory and ethical controversies: The points mechanism has been questioned as 'indirectly inducing trading', which may violate financial compliance principles. For example, the SEC in the US has already focused on similar models, believing they involve market manipulation.
What is 'sunshine strategy' and what is 'conspiracy'?
Sunshine Strategy Dimension: Positive Effect
First: Incentivizing Loyal Users: Encouraging users to form long-term behavior patterns, such as regular lock-ups and participation in new projects.
Secondly: Building a data moat: The points system encourages users to form a data closed loop on the platform, beneficial for Binance's precise profiling and risk control modeling.
Finally: Enhance the experience of quality projects: By screening more engaged and sticky user groups through points, it helps startups receive genuine community feedback.
Conspiracy Dimension: Strategic Manipulation
First: Non-transparent power mechanism: Points are not on-chain assets, and Binance has absolute control, with no guarantees for user rights.
Second: Behavioral Manipulation Design: Guiding users to engage in excessive staking and frequent trading through uncertainty, increasing platform activity but sacrificing user rationality.
Third: Psychological Game Induction: The future value of points is not clearly defined, placing users in a state of 'fear of missing out' (FOMO), passively drawn into data harvesting.
The true purpose of Alpha Points
🎁 On the surface: It is indeed 'giving out money'
Users earn Alpha Points by completing tasks such as trading, inviting friends, and participating in activities;
Points can be exchanged for airdrop priority, limited NFTs, exclusive product purchase rights, etc.;
Similar to the 'credit score + membership system' in Web2, promoting retention and activity.
→ The surface is giving out money, benefiting early participants.
🧠 Deep Layer: Behavioral Guidance and Ecological Moat
Binance's move is not 'giving away for free', but aims to build a user data closed loop + decision prediction system:
Enhancing user stickiness: Points are linked with future airdrops, Launchpads, and trading priority, increasing user long-term retention;
Behavior shaping: By designing different tasks, guiding users to perform operations beneficial to the platform (such as enhancing liquidity, bringing in new users);
User tagging: Through points records and task completion, accurately portraying user profiles, optimizing personalized push and market deployment;
Counter-cyclical moat: Identifying high-quality active users in advance before a bull market, increasing negotiation power with project parties, locking in resources for the next wave of enthusiasm.
→ The essence is 'the growth flywheel after actuarial consideration', rather than simply giving out sweets.
Who pays for the 'conspiracy'?
The core contradiction of Binance's Alpha Points system lies in: the platform maximizes its own interests (data, traffic, fees) through rule design, while users bear the costs (capital, time, risk). Its essence is a 'dimensionality reduction strike' of 'algorithmic power' against 'individual rationality', ultimately forming a situation where the strong get stronger within the ecosystem, and the weak merely accompany.
Binance's Alpha Points are not a scam, but their essence is a centralized behavioral finance system. While binding users to the platform, they also use 'uncertain incentive' strategies to harvest user liquidity and behavior.
In the current market environment, it resembles a 'precision business strategy game' disguised as a sunshine strategy.
In the short term, users may participate strategically (e.g., refreshing points on low gas chains, hedging potential tokens);
In the long term, be wary of the chain risks triggered by the bursting of the points bubble, returning to the essence of value investment.
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Finally: Many views in this article represent my personal understanding of the market and do not constitute advice for your investments.
