What the author describes, I would not call 'protocols' - The Bitcoin network is a hosted implementation of the Bitcoin protocol - It is not the protocol itself

What the author describes, I would not call 'protocols' - The Bitcoin network is a hosted implementation of the Bitcoin protocol - It is not the protocol itself. Tokens in the context of the Bitcoint protocol itself have no value - The value is derived from the popularity of the infrastructure, not from the popularity of the protocol. If I forked the Bitcoin repo tomorrow and started my own altcoin based on it, my tokens would be worth $0 because nobody would know about or want to buy my virtual coins - Even if my network was based on the Bitcoin protocol. The monetization does not occur at the protocol level - It occurs at the implementation/infrastructure level. You don't need tokens to monetize an open source project - The root of the strategy is merely to leverage the popularity of your open source project (and your status as its 'leading expert' - Since you built the thing) to offer a hosted/managed implementation of that open source project. The value of tokens merely represents a stake in a specific implementation of a hosted/managed service - There is nothing open about that. It's the equivalent of paying a monthly fee for using a hosted SaaS.