In the ever-changing crypto market, remarkable emerging projects can often be seen. Just when the market sentiment was low and investors were generally feeling pessimistic, Solana co-founder Toly quietly settled in a SocialFi platform called Time.fun. The platform's time token - "toly's minutes" - quickly attracted a market value of $20 million within just two hours, but then rapidly dropped to $5.3 million, with the token price fluctuating dramatically.
This not only reminds people of the star project Clout, which was once popular a month ago but quickly fell. Clout achieved rapid valuation surges through personal tokens of internet celebrities, but eventually collapsed due to technical flaws and market bubbles. Now, Time.fun and other 'time tokenization' projects seem to be facing a similar fate challenge—will a model that was once seen as a new era of social tokens also come to an end in speculation and bubbles?
Time.fun's "time alchemy"
Time.fun through the innovative 'time tokenization' mechanism, transforms traditional social interaction into a tradable digital asset, changing the way people interact with celebrities and creators. The platform's core function is to allow creators to convert their time into purchasable tokens. Users can purchase these tokens to 'reserve' the time of the creators, engage in one-on-one or group chats, or even schedule meetings. This mechanism not only creates new revenue streams for creators but also provides users with the opportunity for more in-depth communication with their favorite celebrities and professionals.
In practical use, users first need to register an account on the Time.fun platform and connect their social media accounts, such as Twitter, Discord, etc. Then, users recharge USDC (or other supported cryptocurrencies) to their account wallets through the platform's payment system. After the recharge is completed, users can browse 'time tokens' published by different creators, with each token representing a period of interaction time with the creator. Users can choose to purchase tokens according to their needs, usually with different time lengths and interaction types to choose from. For example, a 1-minute chat token may be priced at $1, while a longer meeting token may require several hundred dollars.
One of the core innovations of Time.fun is the joint curve pricing mechanism, also known as the "internal disk." This mechanism dynamically adjusts the token price based on the token's trading volume and market demand. Simply put, as the trading volume of a certain creator's time token increases on the platform, the token price will automatically rise, forming a self-enhancing speculative flywheel. This design not only brings income to creators but also stimulates users' motivation to purchase time tokens in the short term, increasing market attention and demand for creators.
The platform also sets up a "time exchange" function. After users purchase tokens, they can exchange them for actual social interactions, such as private messages, voice calls, video conferences, etc. After each exchange, the tokens will be correspondingly reduced, and the creators will receive corresponding rewards. At the same time, Time.fun introduces a time holder fund, which accumulates rewards for time holders through the platform's transaction fees and exchange fees. Both users and creators can obtain additional income from it, encouraging them to participate more in the platform ecosystem.
In addition, Time.fun has also launched a creator-exclusive group chat function, which automatically manages group members through Telegram bots. Creators can authorize bots to manage group members, enabling automated invitations and removals. This design further enhances the platform's interactivity, especially in establishing closer connections between creators and their fans.
Compared with the Key mechanism of Friend.tech platform, Time.fun adopts a more complex dual revenue engine: on one hand, 95% of the revenue comes from time exchange, that is, creators obtain most of the rewards through interaction with fans, promoting creators to improve the quality of interaction; on the other hand, through 2.1% transaction fees and the time holder fund, Time.fun has built an interest alliance core around time holders. In this way, the platform not only strengthens the interactive relationship between creators and fans, but also stimulates participants' speculative enthusiasm through market-oriented pricing mechanisms.
Repeat the same mistake? For now, NO
The success of Time.fun has attracted many well-known figures to participate, and the celebrity tokens on the platform almost make up the "power map" of the crypto world. Solana co-founder Toly, Helius CEO Mert, Time.fun founder Kawz, and others have issued personal tokens on the platform, and the value of the tokens is directly linked to their personal market popularity and influence. For example, Toly resonated his token with the heat of the Solana ecosystem by issuing "toly's minutes", and the market value of the token once reached nearly 20 million US dollars. Mert, on the other hand, transformed his influence in the Solana ecosystem into credit assets on the blockchain through "mert's minutes", further enhancing the platform's attractiveness.
However, in terms of market performance, there are still some similarities between the models of Time.fun and Clout. Although Time.fun has tried to avoid some technical and product defects in its design, it still relies to some extent on the celebrity effect, which may cause its token price to fluctuate greatly due to short-term market sentiment. For the price estimation of celebrity tokens, on January 24th, when the Clout platform founder token 'PASTERNAK' was issued, its market value reached a peak of $80 million at one point, with active on-chain transactions on the Solana chain reaching $880 million, whereas today the daily transaction volume on the Solana network has dropped to $340 million. In such a market environment, the highest market value of Toly's 'toly’s minutes' token at around $30 million seems to be a reasonable range. Nevertheless, the token price of Time.fun may still face significant fluctuations, especially in the case of unstable liquidity in both internal and external markets.
Unlike Clout, Time.fun's product is more well-prepared. When Clout was launched, due to technical issues, the token issuance function did not proceed as smoothly as expected, ultimately leading to the project's soft rug pull - founder Ben Pasternak's token market cap plummeted by 99.7%, and the official Twitter account also cleared all content.
Time.fun conducted thorough planning before the product went online and received official support from Solana, making its initial ecosystem more solid. It is worth noting that Time.fun started operating its official Twitter as early as April last year and participated in the Alliance incubator, making it unlikely for this carefully crafted project to crash like Cloud did right after launch.
Clout's failure exposed the token's inability to cash out actual social interactions, ultimately leading to it becoming a short-term speculative tool. In contrast, by introducing a "time exchange" mechanism, Time.fun ensures that the token is closely linked to actual social behavior and time exchange, thus providing a clear value support for the platform, so that the token is no longer just an empty "meme". However, while this mechanism enhances the real value of the token, it still faces challenges: whether the platform's token, driven by the celebrity effect, will be able to maintain its real value in the long term and avoid being over-speculatively speculated remains an open question. Although the Time.fun has a clearer anchor in design, how to balance the celebrity effect with the long-term stability of the token is still a key issue that the platform needs to continue to solve.
The way out: From 'financial casino' to 'time bank'
The real breakthrough may not lie in continuing to circulate within the existing financial speculation framework, but in restructuring the entire underlying logic, so that time tokens are not just a credential for access, but become digital assets with deep social value. Imagine a scenario: a user's time token is no longer just a tool for interacting with celebrities, but becomes an input parameter for an on-chain credit scoring system. For example, a developer exchanges time tokens for mentoring time with a well-known Ethereum core developer. Metrics such as GitHub contributions, code quality, and the amount of time tokens held will be cross-validated, ultimately generating a "developer credit passport" that can be used across platforms. This approach not only gives time tokens more dimensions of value but also drives a broader on-chain mapping of user behaviors and social activities.
This is not a fantasy. In Time.fun's vision for the future, time tokens will not be limited to celebrity interactions, but will become the core unit of all on-chain activities and contributions. If successful, Time.fun could revolutionize our understanding of time as a resource, transforming it from traditional linear computing to a decentralized, programmable financial and social credit asset. In this case, time tokens will not just be a tool for a specific field, but an infrastructure for cross-domain value exchange and social recognition, helping to build a new social capital system.
However, the road to break through is not easy. To transform the idea of "time bank" from theory to reality, Time.fun not only needs to overcome the speculative bubble in the market, but also needs to solve the problem of establishing a measurement standard and exchange mechanism for time in a wide range of social activities. This requires the platform to have more powerful infrastructure support, as well as the active promotion and verification of community participants. If all this can be achieved, Time.fun is expected to become the pioneer of the next generation of decentralized social and financial platforms.
The content is for reference only, not a solicitation or offer. No investment, tax, or legal advice provided. See Disclaimer for more risks disclosure.
Another round of SocialFi, will Time.fun fall like Clout?
Author: Luke, Mars Financial
In the ever-changing crypto market, remarkable emerging projects can often be seen. Just when the market sentiment was low and investors were generally feeling pessimistic, Solana co-founder Toly quietly settled in a SocialFi platform called Time.fun. The platform's time token - "toly's minutes" - quickly attracted a market value of $20 million within just two hours, but then rapidly dropped to $5.3 million, with the token price fluctuating dramatically.
This not only reminds people of the star project Clout, which was once popular a month ago but quickly fell. Clout achieved rapid valuation surges through personal tokens of internet celebrities, but eventually collapsed due to technical flaws and market bubbles. Now, Time.fun and other 'time tokenization' projects seem to be facing a similar fate challenge—will a model that was once seen as a new era of social tokens also come to an end in speculation and bubbles?
Time.fun's "time alchemy"
Time.fun through the innovative 'time tokenization' mechanism, transforms traditional social interaction into a tradable digital asset, changing the way people interact with celebrities and creators. The platform's core function is to allow creators to convert their time into purchasable tokens. Users can purchase these tokens to 'reserve' the time of the creators, engage in one-on-one or group chats, or even schedule meetings. This mechanism not only creates new revenue streams for creators but also provides users with the opportunity for more in-depth communication with their favorite celebrities and professionals.
In practical use, users first need to register an account on the Time.fun platform and connect their social media accounts, such as Twitter, Discord, etc. Then, users recharge USDC (or other supported cryptocurrencies) to their account wallets through the platform's payment system. After the recharge is completed, users can browse 'time tokens' published by different creators, with each token representing a period of interaction time with the creator. Users can choose to purchase tokens according to their needs, usually with different time lengths and interaction types to choose from. For example, a 1-minute chat token may be priced at $1, while a longer meeting token may require several hundred dollars.
One of the core innovations of Time.fun is the joint curve pricing mechanism, also known as the "internal disk." This mechanism dynamically adjusts the token price based on the token's trading volume and market demand. Simply put, as the trading volume of a certain creator's time token increases on the platform, the token price will automatically rise, forming a self-enhancing speculative flywheel. This design not only brings income to creators but also stimulates users' motivation to purchase time tokens in the short term, increasing market attention and demand for creators.
The platform also sets up a "time exchange" function. After users purchase tokens, they can exchange them for actual social interactions, such as private messages, voice calls, video conferences, etc. After each exchange, the tokens will be correspondingly reduced, and the creators will receive corresponding rewards. At the same time, Time.fun introduces a time holder fund, which accumulates rewards for time holders through the platform's transaction fees and exchange fees. Both users and creators can obtain additional income from it, encouraging them to participate more in the platform ecosystem.
In addition, Time.fun has also launched a creator-exclusive group chat function, which automatically manages group members through Telegram bots. Creators can authorize bots to manage group members, enabling automated invitations and removals. This design further enhances the platform's interactivity, especially in establishing closer connections between creators and their fans.
Compared with the Key mechanism of Friend.tech platform, Time.fun adopts a more complex dual revenue engine: on one hand, 95% of the revenue comes from time exchange, that is, creators obtain most of the rewards through interaction with fans, promoting creators to improve the quality of interaction; on the other hand, through 2.1% transaction fees and the time holder fund, Time.fun has built an interest alliance core around time holders. In this way, the platform not only strengthens the interactive relationship between creators and fans, but also stimulates participants' speculative enthusiasm through market-oriented pricing mechanisms.
Repeat the same mistake? For now, NO
The success of Time.fun has attracted many well-known figures to participate, and the celebrity tokens on the platform almost make up the "power map" of the crypto world. Solana co-founder Toly, Helius CEO Mert, Time.fun founder Kawz, and others have issued personal tokens on the platform, and the value of the tokens is directly linked to their personal market popularity and influence. For example, Toly resonated his token with the heat of the Solana ecosystem by issuing "toly's minutes", and the market value of the token once reached nearly 20 million US dollars. Mert, on the other hand, transformed his influence in the Solana ecosystem into credit assets on the blockchain through "mert's minutes", further enhancing the platform's attractiveness.
However, in terms of market performance, there are still some similarities between the models of Time.fun and Clout. Although Time.fun has tried to avoid some technical and product defects in its design, it still relies to some extent on the celebrity effect, which may cause its token price to fluctuate greatly due to short-term market sentiment. For the price estimation of celebrity tokens, on January 24th, when the Clout platform founder token 'PASTERNAK' was issued, its market value reached a peak of $80 million at one point, with active on-chain transactions on the Solana chain reaching $880 million, whereas today the daily transaction volume on the Solana network has dropped to $340 million. In such a market environment, the highest market value of Toly's 'toly’s minutes' token at around $30 million seems to be a reasonable range. Nevertheless, the token price of Time.fun may still face significant fluctuations, especially in the case of unstable liquidity in both internal and external markets.
Unlike Clout, Time.fun's product is more well-prepared. When Clout was launched, due to technical issues, the token issuance function did not proceed as smoothly as expected, ultimately leading to the project's soft rug pull - founder Ben Pasternak's token market cap plummeted by 99.7%, and the official Twitter account also cleared all content.
Time.fun conducted thorough planning before the product went online and received official support from Solana, making its initial ecosystem more solid. It is worth noting that Time.fun started operating its official Twitter as early as April last year and participated in the Alliance incubator, making it unlikely for this carefully crafted project to crash like Cloud did right after launch.
Clout's failure exposed the token's inability to cash out actual social interactions, ultimately leading to it becoming a short-term speculative tool. In contrast, by introducing a "time exchange" mechanism, Time.fun ensures that the token is closely linked to actual social behavior and time exchange, thus providing a clear value support for the platform, so that the token is no longer just an empty "meme". However, while this mechanism enhances the real value of the token, it still faces challenges: whether the platform's token, driven by the celebrity effect, will be able to maintain its real value in the long term and avoid being over-speculatively speculated remains an open question. Although the Time.fun has a clearer anchor in design, how to balance the celebrity effect with the long-term stability of the token is still a key issue that the platform needs to continue to solve.
The way out: From 'financial casino' to 'time bank'
The real breakthrough may not lie in continuing to circulate within the existing financial speculation framework, but in restructuring the entire underlying logic, so that time tokens are not just a credential for access, but become digital assets with deep social value. Imagine a scenario: a user's time token is no longer just a tool for interacting with celebrities, but becomes an input parameter for an on-chain credit scoring system. For example, a developer exchanges time tokens for mentoring time with a well-known Ethereum core developer. Metrics such as GitHub contributions, code quality, and the amount of time tokens held will be cross-validated, ultimately generating a "developer credit passport" that can be used across platforms. This approach not only gives time tokens more dimensions of value but also drives a broader on-chain mapping of user behaviors and social activities.
This is not a fantasy. In Time.fun's vision for the future, time tokens will not be limited to celebrity interactions, but will become the core unit of all on-chain activities and contributions. If successful, Time.fun could revolutionize our understanding of time as a resource, transforming it from traditional linear computing to a decentralized, programmable financial and social credit asset. In this case, time tokens will not just be a tool for a specific field, but an infrastructure for cross-domain value exchange and social recognition, helping to build a new social capital system.
However, the road to break through is not easy. To transform the idea of "time bank" from theory to reality, Time.fun not only needs to overcome the speculative bubble in the market, but also needs to solve the problem of establishing a measurement standard and exchange mechanism for time in a wide range of social activities. This requires the platform to have more powerful infrastructure support, as well as the active promotion and verification of community participants. If all this can be achieved, Time.fun is expected to become the pioneer of the next generation of decentralized social and financial platforms.