Real Users First. Distributing ownership of a network via incentive mechanisms is indisputably one of the killer use cases of crypto. The Story Foundation will reward real users and community members. Many Sybils will complain, pretending to be real users. In fact, this is already happening. We fully expect this, but we will ignore the noise. Real users will be rewarded — on Day 1, Day 100, Day 1000, and beyond — even if it means some FUD in the short term. One of the consequences of truly permissionless systems is that they are vulnerable to abuse. Over the past few years, predatory Sybils have begun to antagonize the natural alignment between networks and their real users. Sybils create a false, zero-sum game between a project and its community that I have seen played out many times. The process works like this: - Sybils take rewards from real users and exit the community, making real users feel like they did not receive what they deserved for their dedication. - Sybils take ownership of the network from the foundation, biasing teams towards short-term goals that do not align with their original vision. - The community and the protocol both lose. In order for both to win again, Sybils need to lose. By eliminating Sybils - who feel entitled to rewards despite actively damaging the project and its users - the Story Foundation is restoring what it believes to be the true endgame of a decentralized protocol: token-based alignment within an ecosystem between its contributors and its users. Story is committed to building a truly aligned protocol that puts its users first.