Can I just say that the first thing that came to mind was StepN? The sneaker logic is: mine GST → reinvest GST into upgrading shoes / Mint → improve earning efficiency → mine more GST. TapeOut is: mine BEM → reinvest BEM into production materials → improve efficiency → mine more BEM. At its core, it’s all about an internal economic flywheel. Of course, there are differences too. TapeOut adds a layer of a third-party developer marketplace. Developers can design new components like BNNs, LUTs, etc., factories pay to adopt them, and developers earn ongoing royalties. If we compare it to StepN, it’s like the official team no longer just sells sneakers but opens up the platform for third parties to design sneakers/soles/chips. Factories buy the licensing to produce them, and designers get a cut. So, it kind of feels like StepN + a chip version of the App Store. Whether it can escape the fate of StepN’s collapse depends on whether advanced components will have real demand beyond mining BEM in the future. So far, I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen people say this open, verifiable nature of hardwired circuits could be used for validation, like tethering AI… All I can say is that’s some serious overthinking. Let’s not even discuss whether AI needs blockchain to be tethered. Even if it did, in 99% of cases, smart contracts would suffice. There’s no need to go down to the circuit level. It’s like saying, to ensure the security of a bank vault, we ditch software permission systems and build a setup with relays instead. Commercially, that just doesn’t make sense. So yeah, hyping the narrative is fine, but don’t take it too seriously. For now, just treat it as a high-IQ version of StepN. If a real external demand emerges in the future, then we can FOMO and hype it up again. One bonus point, though, is the native + degen + community vibe. I’ve felt it before with Ordi. Even though inscriptions ultimately proved to have little practical value, at least during that time, we were happy and full of hope. That emotional value is still value! #StepN #TapeOut #Crypto #Web3 #BNN #LUT #BEM #FOMO #Hype