The established DeFi tokens seem to have a bright future. Any new DeFi token with a viable use case may gain traction if they can demonstrate that their solution works. However, there are three (or more) new DeFi token types:
- Marketing Gimmick & Cash Grab
- Forketing
- Original Ideas
Marketing Gimmick & Cash Grab
There is little content to these types of tokens that need discussion. These will inevitably fail, wiping off community capital. Some will prosper, while the majority will lose. Totally unsustainable.
Forketing
Please understand that I am not implying that all forks are bad. However, if the only motive for forking a project is to introduce a new token, I would flee as quickly as possible. A notable fork, in my opinion, occurs when developers disagree and one side believes they can offer a better solution than the other. And if they are unable to reach consensus, they split, resulting in the creation of a fork. This is the normal course of development for all open source projects. Alternatively, a fork is generated when one technology is translated into another to create something that did not exist. This, too, is excellent in my view.
However, just forking a project for financial advantage may or may not succeed. This is contingent upon the community's bandwidth, on how far they choose to pursue a project. If people get disinterested, the project will fail quickly.
Original Ideas
Well, the cryptocurrency industry is extremely welcoming if you think about it. Who could have predicted that a novel concept such as Chainlink would become such a tremendous success? However, look at them today; they are one of the leading proponents of decentralized finance.
A project's prospects for success are not just dependent on the quality of its technologists. It doesn't really matter. To deliver on the commitments, a large team effort including community support and skill is required. There has never been a successful initiative without a strong community behind it. However, the term "community" does not always refer to those who are part of a particular project. It is also dependent on how open, inclusive, and permissionless the project is to new members in the long term.
To summarize, successful projects are hard to determine. That's the whole beauty of this industry, that it's unpredictable.