A Comprehensive Guide to the Web3 Points Economy: From Blur to EigenLayer—How Can Projects Design Efficient Points Systems?

Why Have Points Suddenly Become So Popular?

When Blur launched its points system in 2022, it set off a frenzy across the entire crypto space. Now, Eigenlayer, Ethena, all sorts of LRT projects, Blast… almost every new project is playing the points game. Data shows that the annualized value of Eigenlayer’s points could reach $1.8 billion (based on $1.8 billion TVL and a 10% annual yield). This is no coincidence—points have gone from being “the cherry on top” to the standard weapon for project cold starts.

What Exactly Are Points?

Simply put: Points are a digital reward voucher that can be converted into real money, product discounts, exclusive privileges, or future tokens. Projects issue points not just to boost user stickiness (though that’s important too), but the core objectives are:

• Rapidly drive product adoption
• Create network effects
• Lock in user behavior in advance
• Use “future tokens” to finance “current liquidity”

You can think of points as “options” the project gives to users—participate now, reap the rewards at TGE.

Web3 Points vs. Web2 Points: What’s the Difference?

Airline miles and credit card points have been around for decades, but in Web3 they’ve evolved:

1. Can be converted into tokens — This is the core difference. Points are no longer just “spend and get a discount,” but have real financial value
2. On-chain transparency — In theory, everything can run on-chain, letting users see exactly how their points are calculated
3. More flexible TGE planning — Projects don’t have to issue tokens all at once; they can incentivize in stages
4. Powerful leverage effect — Using a relatively small token supply (or commitment) to drive much larger TVL and user growth

How to Design a Points System: Four Core Modules

1. Behavior Setting (Behaviors)

This is “what you need to do to earn points.” Common actions include:

• Depositing funds (LRT, lending protocol deposits)
• Trading (AMMs, derivatives)
• Providing liquidity (LP positions)
• Social interactions (sharing, commenting, inviting)

2. Base Allocation (Base)

This is the rule for “how points are given.” There are mainly two approaches:

Fixed supply — There’s only a set number of points, released in phases (like Hyperliquid). The advantage is transparency and predictability; the downside is if TVL explodes, early users get heavily diluted

Dynamic supply — The total point supply changes with TVL (Eigenlayer, Ethena use this). For example, if TVL doubles, the total points double too, but each user’s “proportion” is diluted. Project teams like this, as it auto-balances incentives

Many projects also implement a decreasing emission curve (such as 1,000,000 points/day in July, 800,000/day in August), creating a sense of urgency for early participation

3. Boost Mechanisms (Boosts) — The soul of the points system

This is “how to reward specific users.” There are many different boost mechanisms, including:

• Liquidity provider boost — In NFT trading, Blur gives extra rewards to LPs who quote closest to the floor price
• Referral boost — Bring in a new user and both of you get extra points (used by Ethena, Blast). Some projects even use multi-level referrals (if your invitee invites someone else, you also get a share)
• Volume boost — The more you trade, the faster your points accumulate (Aevo uses this for high-frequency traders)
• Loyalty boost — Trade only on your platform, not competitors, for extra rewards (Blur used this to take share from OpenSea)
• Random boost — “Lucky trades” can suddenly get a 25x boost (Aevo’s “lucky boost” is purely to attract attention)
• Ranking boost — Top 100 users get extra rewards (fostering competition)
• Lock-up boost — The longer you lock your assets, the higher the boost multiplier (used by EtherFi, Hourglass)

4. Program Rewards

It’s not just “points → tokens”—there are other perks:

• Fee discounts for point holders
• Invitations to exclusive events
• Product Beta testing rights

This area is still relatively new, with most projects still experimenting.

Real Case: How Did Blur Use Points to Kill OpenSea?

Blur’s points strategy is textbook-level:

• Airdrop 0 — Invited private Alpha testers, locking in the most active traders
• Airdrop 1 — Rewarded existing NFT traders for listing new inventory
• Airdrop 2 — “If you migrated from OpenSea,” extra rewards. This is key—using boost mechanisms to directly poach users from competitors
• Airdrop 3 — Rewarded high-frequency traders and bidders, creating trading hype

The result: Blur went from 0 to a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem in just 7 weeks.

Problems That (We Have to Admit) Exist

1. Centralization risk — Points calculation, distribution, and rules are all controlled by the project team. Users can’t see inside the black box. Do you trust the project? If not, your points are worthless. EigenLayer is a prime example—users accumulated points for 11 months, but the TGE only distributed 5% of tokens, and then suddenly imposed geo-restrictions, so users lost their claim rights

2. Points fatigue — There are too many projects now, and every one issues points. Users get overwhelmed: “100 units/day of A points is worth how much? 2 million units/day of B points is worth how much? Where is my capital best deployed?” This constant comparison is tiring, so many just “chase the hype” or opt out

3. Masks real demand — This is the most dangerous. If a product only attracts users through incentives, but lacks real user demand, once incentives stop, everyone leaves. This is called the “Hot Start Problem,” which Variant’s researcher Mason Nystrom has discussed in depth

4. Airdrop design issues blamed on points — Many user complaints aren’t about the points system itself, but about airdrop allocation being too low or rules too harsh. Eigenlayer is a case in point—the points system was fine, but 11 months of effort for just 5% of tokens left users unhappy. The problem isn’t the points, but the airdrop distribution

Future Trends for Points Systems

On-chain implementation — Some or all points logic will move on-chain for greater transparency. 3Jane’s AMPL-style points and Frax’s FXLT are experimenting

Standardized pricing — Secondary markets like Whales Market are emerging, letting users quickly estimate “how much are these points worth,” reducing comparison and decision costs

Stronger non-token utility — Not just “points → tokens,” but more real-world use cases (fee rebates, DAO voting rights, etc.)

Conclusion

Points have become the standard kit for cold starting Web3 projects—those without points now seem like outliers. But designing a good points system isn’t easy—you have to balance transparency and flexibility, user incentives and real demand.

In the future, projects that can design points systems which are attractive, relatively transparent, and actually drive real product growth will go much further than those simply “throwing money at users.”