In the past, we used to compare BTC and colored coins to gold and gold jewelry. Many people would think that this comparison emphasizes the value-preserving function of ARC20 and overlooks the ceiling of additional value.
After discussing with friends today, we found another perspective from the world of traditional online games – a limited edition “equipment” that can be worn and upgraded, which may better highlight the premium principle of colored con compared to white con.
White con, the basic unit of Bitcoin without any coloring (0.00000001 BTC), is commonly referred to as white con. The process of “coloring” involves putting a white con in rare, limited edition “equipment”. This analogy is similar to the concept of skins, fashion, and insignias in traditional online games.
Some people liken colored con to a rare con, but in reality, the logic behind the two is different. The differences lie in the source, whether from birth or acquired, and the nature of “wearing equipment”. Once an equipment is worn on a con, it becomes “soul-bound” and cannot be directly removed, but can be destroyed through “decolorization”, exchanged with other cons, or even worn by multiple cons at the same time (which is more complex and not attempted at this stage).
The colored cons we have are essentially “advanced cons” attached to unique and distinctive limited edition equipment. These “equipment” have several characteristics:
1. Acquisition cost: Initially obtaining these equipment requires a cost, creating equipment and putting them on cons is the minting (coloring) process.
2. One coin, one con: Equipment must be worn on a con to realize its value. One coin naturally corresponds to one con, so even if the equipment is poor, the con still holds value, and if the equipment is good, the combination of “equipment + con” will naturally be more valuable.
3. Series differentiation: Equipment from the same series, such as those named Quark, are always homogeneous (FT); whereas different FTs, such as Atom and Quark, belong to different series of equipment and have completely different values.
4. Limited total quantity: Once equipment from a series is issued, the total quantity is limited, for example, there are 21 million pieces of Atom equipment and 10 billion pieces of Quark equipment. Today, one Atom equipment plus con is worth 4.3u, and one Quark equipment plus con is worth 0.0023u.
5. Additional value: While in the past we compared colored coins to gold jewelry, emphasizing the store of value, looking at it from the perspective of “con + equipment”, the con is used for value preservation while the value of equipment has no ceiling and is determined by narratives, applications, and other factors for endless upgrades and advancements after being minted.
When deploying a new ARC20 token, for example, named xxx, with 21,000 units, each worth 1,000 coins, you are essentially acting as a limited equipment factory, producing 21 million legendary equipment pieces. The minting process for others is to put these equipment on white cons, so successfully minting one means outfitting 1,000 white cons with the appearance of “xxx” equipment.
The additional value of this “xxx” equipment is defined by the public; it can be pure meme fashion or come with various narratives. It can be upgraded under community endorsement (empowerment) to refine, advance, and upgrade an initially appearance-only equipment gradually.
When we add interesting narratives to the “xxx” equipment, such as saying it is approved by the Thunder God, the intrinsic value of everyone’s “xxx” equipment will increase, driving consensus approval. When we empower the “xxx” equipment, develop applications, everyone’s “xxx” equipment will gain external functional enhancement, increasing practical value.
As equipment is scarce, it can naturally be speculated on. From the perspectives of “fashion” and “skins”, there is an aesthetic aspect (narratives), which is the most direct value angle as luxury items and rare crafts. Of course, from the perspectives of “defense” and “durability”, there are attribute value additions such as empowerment, applications, and equity (unlimited point additions).
Separating the understanding of “coloring” and “con” may also provide an interesting perspective on colored coins.
When I shared this idea with a friend, he agreed with the concept but raised a question – how to “add points” to equipment? I said, this idea is correct, adding points to equipment is where its additional value shines. It also emphasizes that colored coins not only preserve value but also have the potential to appreciate.
When we integrate the goal of “upgrading equipment”, we can involve the community in a new role. We say a token community must persist and build. In fact, this “building” process is about adding points to equipment attributes.
Those who write articles have penned numerous pieces, gathering grand narratives throughout (increasing durability); those who output MEME culture, with visual images and culture genes for community dissemination, have consolidated enduring consensus (increasing aesthetics and charm); those who empower applications, based on functional token development, have provided more targeted practical value (increasing special effects and passive skills); cross-project and cross-track development linkages, cooperation benefits between multiple projects, allow unexpected returns on tokens (increasing drop rate and experience gain); those with ample funds provide market-making and protection, driving the market directly (increasing attack and defense capabilities); after years of preaching, laying the groundwork for a possible marketing point, each step of development is meaningful (increasing critical hit rate)…
In fact, building can be done anywhere, and these things can be done with any token. But only when we understand “coloring” as “wearing equipment”, does building have a more exciting interpretation.
Looking at it this way, forging equipment, hoarding equipment, and honing equipment to make your “con” legion stronger – isn’t this a “fun” path to take?
