When a hundred flowers bloom, we need to set sail and hoist the sails.
Written by: Pzai, Foresight News
With the maturation of blockchain technology and the improvement of the regulatory environment, 2024 will become a critical turning point in the crypto field, marking the transition of this technology from early financial innovation to widespread commercial application.
Globally, the development of the crypto field is showing a trend of diversification and deepening, achieving important breakthroughs not only in the financial sector but also demonstrating enormous potential in multiple application-level fields. This year, we have witnessed innovations and evolutions in blockchain technology in areas such as asset and financial derivatives trading, as well as the crypto field stepping into the domains of social, AI, and even traditional internet.
With Trump's rise and the influx of global capital, the cryptocurrency field is pursuing its dawn in different ways and stepping into a more ambitious starry sea. This article provides a brief review of the progress of Mass Adoption in the crypto field in 2024.
Polymarket: The 'Colosseum' of Everything
This year's dramatic U.S. election has brought a breeze of spring to the crypto field, and has truly brought the prediction market Polymarket to the center of the world stage. As a prediction market, the outcomes of everything are represented on Polymarket in real-time as probabilities of yes or no, with genuine trading feedback reflecting the market's contest.
For this election, it even played the role of a 'prophet', with its feedback on poll distribution being closer to real election results compared to traditional media polls. Its success is not only reflected in its accurate predictions of election outcomes but more importantly, it demonstrates how decentralized prediction markets can become an efficient information aggregation tool.
On this platform, users can place bets on the outcomes of various events without permission, and these betting actions themselves reflect participants’ collective expectations about the occurrence of future events. As more people engage in such markets, the price mechanism can better reflect the likelihood of events occurring, thereby providing more comprehensive and timely data points than a single source. The platform's ease of use and flexibility has also quickly attracted a large number of new users, especially among the younger generation and technology enthusiasts. According to relevant reports, the platform ranked second in the Apple free apps chart, only behind another prediction market application, Kalshi, indicating a high level of user engagement.
As a concept favored by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, prediction markets have evolved from niche experimental projects among blockchain enthusiasts to influential public decision-making reference tools. As more people begin to recognize the value of such platforms, Polymarket is expected to continue expanding its influence and explore more diverse application scenarios, such as financial derivatives and policy assessment. In this 'Colosseum', the contest of opinions brings a different perspective to the way things are viewed in the world.
Farcaster and Onchain Summer: A Positive Attempt in SocialFi
The Base ecosystem, as the 'evergreen tree' and main 'engine' of the Ethereum system, has received widespread attention since its release. Backed by Coinbase's ecological support and user base, along with the 'Based' community atmosphere driven by Jesse Pollak and others, it has laid the foundation for the explosion of the Base ecosystem. It is precisely because of the thriving ecological atmosphere that it has created fertile ground for the large-scale adoption of Web3.
Last year, the Friend.tech platform in the Base ecosystem led a wave of SocialFi enthusiasm, with numerous KOLs and users interacting within the protocol, many users reaping substantial profits. However, due to issues with its tokenomics and slowing user growth, Friend.tech gradually lost market focus. In contrast, the decentralized social protocol Farcaster has successfully attracted a large amount of user attention and support by building a more open, inclusive, and vibrant community ecosystem. Since opening registration in October last year, Farcaster has successfully achieved an average of 40,000 monthly active users and has already demonstrated certain scaling effects.
Compared to other applications, Farcaster's uniqueness lies in that it is not just a single social application but plays more of a protocol layer role, allowing users to have complete control over their data and social graphs, freely migrating between different applications, while different developers can create diverse front-end applications and services based on various APIs and frameworks. For example, Warpcast, as a major client, provides a user experience similar to Twitter.
In addition, frameworks like Farcaster Frames allow users to interact with on-chain applications and perform various operations directly on a single Cast front end, such as gaming, NFT minting, article subscription services, etc., creating more opportunities for users to engage with on-chain applications. Its unique community culture has also given rise to community projects like DEGEN and HIGHER, gradually building community attention through a token reward mechanism while enhancing the influence of the Base chain itself.
As more and more well-known figures (such as Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin) join, Farcaster has formed a vibrant and continually growing community environment. For users, the new on-chain social paradigm combines the user-friendliness of traditional social applications with the flexibility of the on-chain economic system, providing users with more convenient interactions as applications like AI Agent develop.
At the same time, the global online hackathon event Onchain Summer held on the Base chain has also become a highlight of the first half of the year, aiming to attract developers, artists, brands, and creators to participate in Base's on-chain activities through a series of incentives. This event not only attracted over 7,500 developers submitting more than 1,250 projects but also showcased the broad application possibilities of Web3 technology in payments, commerce, creator tools, and more. An interesting fact is that now you can use USDC to buy your coffee in 49 cafes worldwide (even without miner fees on Coinbase Wallet).
AI Agent: A New Paradigm in the Cyber World
AI Agent, as an important component of the human cyber future, is emerging as a new form of economic entity — this not only changes the face of technology but also profoundly affects how humans interact within the new system. As AI gradually integrates into daily life with traits increasingly resembling those of humans, cryptocurrency exists as the economic layer and protocol interaction layer of Agents.
Imagine a future where we can coexist with AI in a cyber environment, with the token economy becoming the key medium of interaction. For example, in the Base chain, AI Agents are seamlessly embedded in the ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps), reshaping crypto rules through activities on these platforms.
Virtual Protocol is a protocol built on the Base chain, aimed at constructing an ownership layer for AI Agents in the gaming and entertainment sectors, and promoting agent development through tokenized channels. The highlight of this protocol is that it is not just a simple token issuance platform but attempts to create a self-sustaining and continually appreciating economic system.
The first AI Agent Aethernet created by HIGHER community member Martin in Farcaster issued NFTs on Zora and received significant creator incentives. As a bridge between human creativity and digital possibilities, Aethernet not only actively participates in on-chain activities but also promotes economic behavior in social relationships, bringing valuable positive emotions.
With the improvement of AI Agents infrastructure and the increasing attention from developers to the unique role AI can play in the crypto economic system, AI is expected to truly achieve time synchronization with the real world, perceive the real temperature of water, and continuously iterate toward AGI. Thus, the real strong counteraction from the crypto world to the real world will soon arrive.
DeSci: Changing Scientific Research through Decentralization
In the field of scientific research, DeSci (Decentralized Science) is an emerging concept that is gaining increasing attention. It refers to the use of Web3 technology and distributed ledger to build a secure, durable, and transparent research record system. This allows scientists to better protect intellectual property, promote open collaboration, and ensure the authenticity and traceability of research results. According to predictions by crypto organization Spartan, DeSci will gain more attention in 2024, becoming a powerful use case for blockchain. This is because DeSci not only addresses the data island problem present in traditional research processes but also provides new possibilities for knowledge sharing on a global scale.
Among them, the representative Molecule DAO has already provided actual support for dozens of biopharmaceutical projects, most of which have reached the stage of patent monetization or Series A financing. Additionally, under this concept, platforms for researchers in niche fields such as BIO Protocol, VitaDAO (focused on funding researchers related to longevity), and PsyDAO (mental drug research, etc.) have also emerged.
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Specifically, DeSci uses the autonomous nature of DAOs to track the progress of each research project, including experimental design, data analysis, and all stages until final publication. This not only helps improve the transparency of the entire research process but also effectively prevents academic misconduct.
At the same time, with the help of smart contract mechanisms, researchers can issue fundraising and collaboration processes without permission, thereby simplifying the collaboration processes between institutions. More importantly, DeSci platforms typically adopt token economic models to incentivize participants to contribute high-quality content and services, thus forming a self-sustaining and continuously growing ecosystem. This also proves DeSci as a manifestation of sustainability in the crypto field, providing ample ground for the progress of science.
TON Mini Program: A New Attempt to Lower Entry Barriers
If we can find the focal point with the greatest overlap in communication between the crypto and traditional fields, then Telegram (TON) is most likely to become that focal point. Imagine being able to access on-chain and off-chain services through diverse and convenient front-end and Bot operations within a single application. By the end of May 2024, the monthly active users (MAU) of Telegram Mini Apps had reached 400 million, increasing to 500 million in July, with over half of Telegram users actively engaging in the crypto field.
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This year, the explosion of countless mini-programs has brought many people a glimpse of reaching countless users through social platforms, and in terms of user usage, some applications are also cutting in from different ecological niches. Singapore's TADA is a typical example, demonstrating how to utilize existing communication platform features to achieve seamless integration between online communication and offline services.
As a ride-hailing service platform, TADA not only offers competitive pricing advantages but more importantly, it has successfully simplified the payment process, allowing users to transact directly within Telegram using various cryptocurrencies. This innovation not only revolutionizes the traditional travel model but also provides a successful example for the practical implementation of Web3 application scenarios. For the industry, TADA's case shows that when the right technology and business models are combined, it can effectively promote more people to accept and use DeFi services.
Notcoin is a simple airdrop mini-program based on Telegram, which has rapidly gained popularity since its launch in early 2024. This game attracts millions of players through a simple mechanism while introducing a token economic model that encourages users to participate and earn rewards through airdrops and other means. Over time, some users began to explore deeper functionalities within TON, such as investing in DeFi products or participating in other forms of on-chain activities. Notcoin's success proves that through fun and instant feedback mechanisms, new users can be effectively guided into the complex crypto world. In terms of customer acquisition strategy, TON has also successfully achieved a closed loop of 'click to earn traffic - token airdrop - user conversion to DeFi applications' through its mini-programs.
RWA: The 'Integration' of On-chain and Off-chain
The interconnectivity of on-chain and off-chain assets has long been a 'pain point' explored by many projects across multiple cycles, and with the loosening of the regulatory environment, the future of RWA (real-world assets) is unfolding before us. According to Bitwise statistics, the total amount of RWA assets in the global market has exceeded $12.5 billion, including most private credit and government bond-related derivatives.
For on-chain users, the accessibility of off-chain asset returns is gradually becoming an important part of the entire economic system. When Sky transitioned from DAI to USDS, it was already well-prepared in the RWA field (Spark's introduction of RWA provided certain experience), finding considerable off-chain return opportunities for the crypto field.
Stablecoins like Usual and Anzen, which focus on RWA returns, have recently launched their TGE, reflecting the market's thriving enthusiasm for RWA return opportunities. Usual integrates the liquidity of platforms like Hashnote with general stablecoin liquidity, flexibly providing returns for holders through USD0 and Bond models, while Anzen Finance uses private credit asset groups as collateral to offer diverse sources of return.
Recently, the MiCA bill passed in Europe has accelerated the progress of regional stablecoins and crypto custody compliance, and Trump's rise has provided imaginative space for the on-chain issuance of off-chain assets. With the rapid advancement of crypto compliance in various regions, and with major capital like BlackRock and Citibank gradually entering the RWA track, it is believed that the RWA track will soon provide diverse choices for crypto users.
Conclusion
In 2024, the crypto field is ushering in a flourishing scene where numerous projects transition from concept to reality. This year is not only a key moment for technological advancement but also a significant turning point for countless projects in the crypto field. With the increasing maturity of blockchain technology and the gradual improvement of the regulatory environment, we are witnessing the widespread acceptance and in-depth development of cryptocurrencies and their related applications globally.
When a hundred flowers bloom, we need to set sail and hoist the sails. I hope that in the near future, we can see many people owning crypto wallets and participating in various economic activities on-chain, even coexisting peacefully with AI in the cyber society and building harmonious interpersonal relationships.
