The Old Playbook: Supply Overload
For centuries, the economic machine has hummed to a simple tune: supply creates demand. Produce the goods—whether widgets, jeans, or digital tokens—and the market will figure out how to want them. It’s a model that built empires, fueled industrial revolutions, and turned China into the world’s factory. But it’s also a model that’s choking us. Over-consumerism reigns, landfills swell with 2.1 billion tons of waste annually, and the benefits skew toward the few—corporations and their shareholders—while the planet and the rest of us pay the price.
Even the bleeding edge of innovation isn’t immune. Take Web3 and the creative economy: a space born from rebellion against centralized excess, yet it’s stumbled into the same trap. New blockchains sprout like weeds, meme coins flood wallets, and NFTs—once heralded as the future of art—pile up unsold in digital ghost towns. The crypto boom of 2021 saw over 10,000 new tokens launched, yet by 2025, most are either dead or propped up by pump-and-dump schemes. Why? Over-production. Supply raced ahead of demand, leaving a trail of hype and broken promises.
The Case for Demand-First
What if we flipped the script? Imagine an economy where demand leads, and supply follows. No mass production until the need is clear. No blockchain launched without a community clamoring for it. No NFT minted unless a collector’s ready to claim it. This isn’t just a pipe dream—it’s a response to a world drowning in excess.
A demand-first model could cut the fat. Globally, overstock accounts for billions in losses—think unsold fast fashion or the 92 million tons of textile waste dumped yearly. In Web3, it’s the glut of zombie projects clogging blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. By waiting for demand signals—pre-orders, community pledges, or even sentiment tracked via decentralized platforms—creators could focus on what matters: real utility, real desire. Less waste, more purpose.
Sustainability is the obvious win. A leaner system burns fewer resources, from the energy guzzled by NFT minting to the server farms powering redundant layer-1 chains. But there’s a human angle too. Demand-first could help more people—not the vague “many,” but the overlooked: small creators, local producers, and communities sidelined by the supply-first giants. Picture an artist minting an NFT only after fans signal interest, or a developer building a blockchain because users demand its features. It’s not utopia, but it’s a shift toward equity over extraction. Let’s call it atopia or the new atopic economy. In this way, even curation, be it of NFT Art or anything, would be easier to be done, more efficient and inclusive.
Web3’s Cautionary Tale
Web3’s creative economy promised to empower individuals—artists, coders, dreamers—yet it’s mirrored the worst of traditional finance. The NFT craze of 2021-2022 saw collections like Bored Apes soar, but by 2025, OpenSea data shows over 80% of NFT projects have near-zero trading volume. Meme coins clones pumped and dumped, leaving retail investors holding bags while insiders cashed out. New blockchains—each touting faster transactions or lower fees—launched without asking: Who needs this? The result? A digital landfill of dead assets and unrealistic dreams and expectations.
This over-production wasn’t innovation; it was speculation dressed as progress. Supply-first thinking flooded the space with noise, drowning out signal. A demand-first Web3 could’ve been different: tokens backed by real use cases, NFTs tied to tangible communities, blockchains built for proven needs. Instead, we got a gold rush where the picks and shovels sold better than the gold.
The Trade-Offs
It’s not all rosy. Demand-first has wrinkles. Innovation might stall—disruptors like the iPhone or Bitcoin thrived because visionaries built first and demand followed. Waiting for pre-approval could kill the spark of risk-taking. And execution’s tricky: aggregating demand in real time needs tech and trust—Web3’s got the tools (DAOs, smart contracts), but scaling them globally risks favoring the same old power players. Amazon, not your local co-op, might still dominate a demand-driven world.
Still, the upsides outweigh the risks. Waste shrinks. Resources stretch further. And in Web3, a demand-first ethos could prune the deadwood—fewer rug pulls, more projects with staying power. It’s not about helping everyone since that might be impossible in the real world; it’s about helping more people than the current system does: the indie creator over the VC-backed hype machine, the user over the speculator.
A New Path Forward
The traditional economy’s supply-first engine is sputtering—overloaded with junk, overstretched on resources. Web3 had a chance to break the mold but tripped over its own ambition. A demand-first pivot isn’t just a fix; it’s a rethink. Start with what people want, then build it—sustainably, selectively, equitably. It won’t save the world, but it might save us from ourselves, i.e. from our bad habits/decisions.
In practice, Web3 could lead the charge: DAOs could vote on project funding only after demand’s proven. NFT drops could shift to pre-order models. Blockchains could launch with user commitments, not whitepaper promises. Outside crypto, it’s artisans producing on commission, or manufacturers firing up lines only when the orders roll in. Less noise, more signal.
The question isn’t whether demand-first is perfect—it’s whether it’s better than the mess we’ve got. I’d argue yes. Over-production’s a relic; let’s build for what’s wanted, not what’s wasted. Let’s try to be less ignorant and more cautious with our environment and limited resources we have here on Earth.
PS. And let’s not forget about recycling and up-cycling. I would love to see more art embracing better sustainable solutions and principles. Wouldn’t you?
Article-conception by Sebastian Clej – Founder of ASKNIGHTS
You must be logged in to post a comment.