So here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: In crypto, what really moves the needle, narrative or product?
On one hand, you’ve got the product-first folks. They say, “Build something useful and the users will come.” Makes sense, right? Strong tech, clean UX, real utility. Solid stuff. We need more of that.
But let’s be honest… narrative runs this space.
Half the coins that pump? They don’t even have a working product yet. What they do have is a compelling story. A vision. A meme. A mission that resonates (or at least goes viral on Twitter for a week).
Think about:
Bitcoin: digital gold, decentralized revolution, opt out of fiat.
Ethereum: world computer, unstoppable apps, dev playground.
Solana: high-speed, cheap fees, future of DeFi + NFTs.
These aren’t just features. They’re narratives people believe in. They make people want to be early, want to participate, want to belong.
Compare that to some protocol grinding away in the shadows with a slick UI and great TPS… but no story? Crickets.
This doesn’t mean product doesn’t matter. In the long run, it has to work. But in crypto, narrative is the front door. It’s how people discover, get curious, ape in.
Narrative drives attention. Product keeps it.
So what do you think? Are we over-indexing on hype? Or is narrative just the native language of a still-immature industry? And how do you balance storytelling with real value?
Curious to hear how others are thinking about this.
Since a lot of people treat the crypto industry as a public way to get into private investing (i.e. invest into startups before they list on a stock exchange), narrative sadly takes up a disproportionate amount of the crypto marketing space.
On the other hand, narrative is an indispensable part of good marketing in ANY industry. Even when you’re actively trying to craft narrative, it’s unavoidable.
Let’s say you’re selling a carrot in the farmer’s market with no booth, no signage, just a basket of carrots and your voice yelling out the price. There’s still an unconscious narrative - it’s fresh, it’s direct from the farm, and it’s a good deal. Then the audience sees the carrot, and can either confirm or reject the premises and make their purchasing decision.
Like you said, narrative drives attention and product keeps it. Narrative is also inevitable, but product is what’s sought after.
This is spot on. In crypto, narrative isn’t just marketing it’s infrastructure. It’s what gets people to care before they even understand the tech.
Reminds me of what Steve Jobs said: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” That’s literally crypto in a nutshell. The best protocols don’t just build, they narrate a future people want to believe in.
Of course, tech has to eventually deliver. But without a story, no one shows up to see it work. Balancing both is the real unlock.
This hits hard because it’s true. In crypto, narrative brings the spark while product delivers the substance. Without story, even the best tech gets ignored.
Most people equate a focus on product with a focus on utility, but I think that’s what creates this dichotomy in the first place. It’s the blend of both the hype narrative and the useful product: a product that’s fun to use, AND useful.
thats so true, but nowdays narratives change so quickly and thats where projects also struggle, if you cant have a good product, you will keep rebranding stuff to entertain the community and thats where you killed the core of your project,
This is another debate where Community itself to think , Are you going to chase the hype or stick to the core of the project?
Felt this hard. We had solid UX + working product but barely moved until we reframed the story. One tweet thread with the right narrative got us more traction than 3 months of shipping quietly.
