I recently spent several days at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival. Waking up groggy from fatigue, I gazed at the seascape of Victoria Harbour. A thought struck me about the Summer of Protocols (SoP)—the deadline was only a few hours away. I immediately called my teammate who was abroad, and he readily agreed to proceed with our application.

While reviewing other proposals in the forum, we began to ponder:

What is the value of SoP in this bizarre world of crypto?

Which protocols are we truly interested in?

What kind of PIG proposals are genuinely valuable?

Then, the phone rang. It was the front desk reminding me to check out. I decided to extend my stay for another night to focus on the submission. However, the price had tripled to $300—a typical weekend rate for an average hotel in Hong Kong. As a student and an entrepreneur, this was a significant expense for me. Since venturing into the world of Web3, I’ve faced many awkward moments: project shutdowns, company acquisitions, layoffs, and attending global conferences on a tight budget.