Theoretically, anyone can create their own coin or token with a certain amount of technical expertise and know-how. But whether or not it's worth it will depend greatly on who you are and the team behind you.

In the short term, Crypto is a high-risk, extremely volatile market with many ups and downs. But in the long term, holding onto those promising tokens can result in incredible wealth-building opportunities for everyday people—the kind of wealth-building that tends to elude all but the top 10%.

The same is true for the owners of aspiring blockchain-based platforms, DAO governance token holders and branded coins. So, if a silly meme like Dogecoin can make bank, why can't you?

(To be clear, I'm not saying you can't).

But, for every successful project that launches, there is a graveyard full of dead developer hopes and dreams. So, before you run off to make 'the next Bitcoin,' let's talk about why so many projects fail. And when creating a token or an entire platform is worth your time.

First, You Need to Have a Plan

Because the value of a coin or token depends entirely on its usefulness and its pool of investors, UTILITY is essential. Lack of application is a major killer for new projects.

Usually, dev teams provide a whitepaper or a roadmap that acts as a business plan for whatever project they're launching. This serves two purposes; it gives direction to the team and reassures potential investors that there is something about the project that will make their contributions valuable in the future. 

Believe it or not, every successful meme coin has a purpose, even if it's just to make people smile. 

A well-thought-out plan that stays mostly on track can encourage users to invest thousands of dollars in tokens that aren't even on the Blockchain yet. But if you go into a Crypto project without a clear plan, you will probably fail.

And by a plan, I don't just mean a vague idea of something you would 'like' to be.

OneCoin raised 4 Billion dollars in three years on a persuasive spiel that it would be the next Blockchain and could sustain cashflow with an attached MLM-style business selling plagiarized course material. (very classy).

But unfortunately, a Ponzi Scheme as a business model is rarely sustainable. 

And I could see legitimate development teams running into the same problem by accident. Crypto projects can take off without warning, leaving inexperienced business owners scrambling to keep the windfall coming.

But when you don't have a plan, your investors will eventually have questions you can't answer and will start dropping out. Once that happens, the entire thing can come crumbling down virtually overnight.

Even if you do have a plan for where you want your project to go if you don't set aside a 💧rainy day fund or set up another stream of income to keep things running during a market crash you'll be screwed anyways.

This leads me to my next point.

You Also Need the Right Team Behind You

After exploring the 'All Market Data' graphs provided by the Crypto.com mobile app, it's pretty evident that no platform is too big to fail, which makes adaptability essential. 

Values for Ethereum and Bitcoin take steep nose dives every couple of years! And there's no reason to assume your project will be exempt from the inevitable reality of the market if even huge crypto giants aren't. This means you need to consider a few things;

✅ Do you have a knowledgeable team capable of publicly finding, fixing and addressing security breaches?

Security breaches and exploits are going to happen. And when they do, you need to be prepared.

✅Do you have a core team that can weather the storm if you need to start laying people off?

✅Do you have likeable people that can get potential investors excited about the project and drive distribution?

Faucets, Airdrops and 'free mints' are fun and gimmicky. Everybody likes swag. But without a passionate community with a vested interest in your project, it will die.

Many centralized businesses try to get into Crypto on the strength of brand names alone. And pump and dump schemes will utilize influencers to do their dirty work. But the hype only lasts so long when your hypemen are just celebrities getting paid a one-off to promote a product instead of avid community members.

It's even harder to get people on board for an entirely new development platform than it is to launch a new token.

You Need to Know If You're a Platform or a Token

If there's one thing I've learned in business, you don't need to be everything to everyone. Instead, it's usually better to do one or two things and do them really, really well.

However, I've noticed many startups want to be the next Bitcoin and end up settling for altcoin copycat status. 

The purpose of a platform should be to address issues other platforms haven't solved or don't do well. That could mean; 

✅ Faster transaction times at a lower cost, like what NEAR Protocol is trying to do.

✅ Creating a Blockchain Gaming Platform where users can 'own' metaverse assets and P2E with user-friendly protocols.

✅Creating a platform to facilitate NFT exchanges and allow users to 'mint' collectibles.

But, if you're not looking to reinvent the wheel, your project might be more suited to a token that runs off an already established platform.

Your dev costs and potential technical issues will be smaller in scale, and you'll be piggybacking off an already-established blockchain protocol with invested backers.

Final Thoughts

Despite the market saturation, there is nothing wrong with wanting to start your own crypto project. But you'll need a well-thought out plan, a user base, and the right team behind you. Otherwise, building an entire platform or even launching a token on your own could be a lot more trouble than it's worth.

Now, if you feel like you have the right tools and a solid team, you'll still have to weather the ups and downs of the market while keeping your backers invested in the project. But with hundreds of failed projects to learn from, the odds are high that you can make something great. 😊