Token economies recognize and reward fans and evangelists, making them integral participants not just spectators. In a sense, any token economy is a "joint venture" between the developers / creators of the platform and the community of consumers they seek to serve.
In an ideal end-state, cryptocurrencies / crypto-collectibles / digital assets crystallize cultural value into liquid token economies, giving end-user communities a tradable currency whose financial value should reflect the strength of the bonds that keep them together.
Non-fungible crypto-collectibles (#ERC721) are even more powerful in this context than cryptocurrencies. Non-fungibles create incredibly rich surface area for the community to engage; games and play jump-start the imagination in a way purely financial tokens never could.
Unfortunately, today's environment of extreme speculation perverts the ideal case and acts as head-wind to any sort of steady state in the short-term – even the builders in this space are too caught up with day trading to look past the "easy money". The hangover will hurt.
