Crypto Traders Want Price Action, Not Tokens, Market Maker…

Crypto has spent much of the past decade measuring success through token prices. Bull markets create billion-dollar valuations, trading frenzies attract new users and price charts often become the primary marketing tool for projects seeking attention.

But according to Diego Martin, CEO of Yellow Network, the industry may be confusing demand for price action with demand for the underlying asset itself.

“The demand for crypto tokens is less than we think. People are not buying tokens because they want to hold the underlying asset. They are taking directional bets. The token is not the prize, the price action is,” Martin commented.

His remarks arrive at a time when the crypto industry faces an uncomfortable reality. While stablecoins, tokenized assets and Bitcoin ETFs continue to attract capital, millions of tokens compete for attention in a market where only a small fraction achieve meaningful liquidity or adoption.

Crypto Has Never Had More Tokens

The numbers are difficult to ignore.

CoinMarketCap now tracks more than 51 million cryptocurrencies and tokens. At the start of 2026, the figure stood below 30 million. In just a few months, millions of additional digital assets entered the market.

The contrast between total token creation and active participation is striking. While tens of millions of tokens exist, estimates suggest only a small fraction generate meaningful activity, liquidity or user engagement.

That imbalance helps explain Martin’s argument.

“Tokens that do not move do not tend to survive. Volatility attracts attention, generates volume and maintains visibility. A token with no price movement is invisible, and invisible tokens die.”

Historically, crypto projects could rely on bull market momentum to attract users. Today’s environment is more competitive. New token launches appear daily, while investor attention remains limited.

The result is a market where visibility itself becomes a scarce resource.

The Utility Winners Look Different

If token demand is weaker than many assume, where is the capital actually going?

The answer increasingly points toward products with identifiable utility rather than purely speculative narratives.

Stablecoins continue to lead that trend. The global stablecoin market recently surpassed $318 billion, growing approximately 34% year over year. Meanwhile, tokenized real-world assets reached more than $26 billion in value.

Unlike many speculative tokens, these segments solve specific problems.

Stablecoins facilitate payments, settlement and dollar access. Tokenized assets provide blockchain-based ownership of traditional financial instruments. The value proposition does not depend entirely on market excitement.

That distinction increasingly separates crypto’s strongest sectors from those that struggle to maintain relevance once speculation fades.

Meanwhile, Traders Still Chase Volatility

None of this means speculation has disappeared.

In fact, some of the largest trading volumes in crypto continue to emerge from products built around volatility itself.

During the first months of 2026, PumpSwap recorded more than $1.2 billion in daily trading volume, while other Solana-based launchpads saw activity surge as traders searched for the next breakout token.

The phenomenon supports Martin’s argument that price movement often matters more than utility in attracting short-term participation.

Projects that generate volatility receive attention. Attention attracts traders. Traders create volume. Volume creates visibility.

The cycle can become self-reinforcing regardless of whether the underlying product has meaningful adoption.

For market makers, that dynamic is impossible to ignore. Liquidity follows activity, and activity often follows volatility.

The ETF And Stablecoin Effect

Institutional investors provide another perspective on where demand is concentrating.

Much of the largest institutional capital entering crypto today is not flowing into newly launched tokens. Instead, it is gravitating toward Bitcoin ETFs, stablecoins and tokenized assets.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively manage more than $80 billion in assets. Stablecoins have become one of the largest use cases in the entire digital asset ecosystem. Tokenization initiatives continue to attract banks, asset managers and financial institutions.

Those developments suggest institutions are selecting specific crypto applications rather than embracing the broader token universe.

That creates a growing divide between assets that generate utility and assets that depend primarily on trading activity.

The Industry’s Long-Term Test

Alexis Sirkia, Captain of Yellow, believes the next phase of crypto will be determined by which projects can survive beyond speculative cycles.

“Crypto is learning a hard lesson in what it means to be long-term greedy. Too many businesses were built around short-term speculation rather than lasting utility. When the financial layer becomes the product, teams stop serving users and start managing markets.”

The observation touches on one of the industry’s most persistent debates.

Should tokens exist to support products, or should products exist to support tokens?

During bull markets, that distinction can appear irrelevant. Rising prices often conceal weak business models. Bear markets tend to expose them.

Sirkia argues that the projects most likely to survive will be those focused on practical adoption rather than token performance.

“The projects that survive the next decade will be the ones that resist the shortcut of speculation and build for real usage, sustainable economics and trust. In crypto, one year is short-term. Ten years is the long game.”

What The Numbers Suggest

The broader market appears to support both perspectives simultaneously.

Speculation remains a powerful force. Volatility still drives attention, volume and liquidity. Memecoins and high-beta assets continue to attract traders searching for outsized returns.

At the same time, the sectors attracting sustained institutional capital increasingly revolve around utility. Stablecoins, tokenized assets and regulated investment products continue to expand even as broader crypto activity fluctuates.

The result is an industry splitting into two distinct tracks.

One side seeks financial utility. The other seeks opportunity through price movement.

Both continue to exist. The question is which one ultimately creates lasting value.

For Martin, the answer may be simpler than many in crypto would like to admit.

“People are not buying tokens because they want to hold the underlying asset. They are taking directional bets. The token is not the prize, the price action is.”