Public Goods Theory

Definition

Public Goods Theory characterizes non-excludable and non-rivalrous resources within digital financial ecosystems that necessitate collective funding to remain functional. In the context of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance, this pertains to open-source protocols, shared security infrastructure, and liquidity pools that provide foundational value to all market participants. Because individual actors often lack direct financial incentives to contribute toward these foundational layers, market failure occurs without coordinated governance or sustainable tokenomic mechanisms.