Do you remember that project once extremely popular and quickly ranked in the top five by market cap upon launch? It then plummeted 95%, becoming a "minefield" in the eyes of many. Over the years, I have witnessed its fall from the peak and its struggle to crawl out of the trough. Only recently did there finally come a turning point.

This reform may seem like a compromise, but in fact, it is a wake-up call for the project team. The project's foundation has finally made up their mind to perform a thorough overhaul of the token system — this is not just patching things up, but a real revolution.

**How did the "negative example" suddenly wake up?**

The core issue, frankly, is the 8-year lock-up period. The initial idea might have been good, but in execution, it became an outlier in the crypto space — while others were competing on liquidity and user experience, it stubbornly insisted on its own way. The result? A large number of ecosystem participants fled, liquidity dried up, and the entire ecosystem fell into a vicious cycle.

99% of projects are pushing outward, but it was pushing inward. This reverse operation directly scared away many investors and also completely obscured the advantages of the technology itself.

**What exactly has this reform changed?**

There are three main points:

First, the lock-up period has been significantly loosened. From 8 years directly down to 2 years, and the shortest lock-up period has been reduced from half a year to 2 weeks. It sounds simple, but it actually means that ordinary investors can now enter at a lower participation cost, no longer having to lock tokens like in a prolonged battle.

Second, the reward model has been redesigned. The original article did not elaborate on this, but from the overall reform approach, it seems aimed at making staking rewards more attractive while maintaining the sustainability of the system.

Third, the flexibility of ecosystem participation has been greatly improved. The shorter lock-up period gives users more choice — they can participate if they want, and exit relatively quickly if they change their mind. This is crucial for rebuilding community confidence.

**Why is this reform so important?**

Frankly, it’s because the project team finally realized: no matter how excellent the technology, it needs users. No matter how perfect the economic model, it must align with human nature. Designs that go against human nature, no matter how ingenious in theory, are doomed in practice.

This move, whether for ICP itself or for the entire Web3 ecosystem, has reference significance. How many projects are still repeating the same mistakes? How many are still shackled by outdated thinking?

From the "lock-up king" to actively embracing market rationality, this shift, though somewhat late, is better than stubbornly sticking to old ways. The future depends on whether the ecosystem can truly come alive.