Purely valuable content, with no false hopes.
Before you start reading, I hope you can temporarily set aside any preconceived notions and take a few minutes to carefully look at what I am about to share.
From a macro perspective, the investment themes of Web3 can be divided into two categories: underlying infrastructure (infra) and application scenarios (apps).
Investing can essentially be divided into two types: one type looks unremarkable in the short term but may yield substantial returns in the long run; the other type is exciting in the short term but may ultimately be worthless.
Most cryptocurrency investors enter this market in pursuit of quick and substantial returns, and are willing to take on corresponding risks.
Therefore, people are more inclined to choose cyclical investments—these investments are usually short-term and only effective during specific bull market cycles.
2025 will become the 'Year of Regulation' in the cryptocurrency field.
The United States and several other major economies plan to introduce relevant regulations domestically. The introduction of these regulations will not only enhance the trust of traditional investors (especially the older generation) but also filter out a few cryptocurrencies with real potential—only those projects with solid fundamentals and stable cash flow support will stand out.
We can foresee a wave of new traditional investors entering the market. These investors hold 'old money' and will venture into the cryptocurrency field for the first time.
They will not blindly invest just because of market speculation; instead, they will study projects carefully, read reports and data thoroughly, and only make investment decisions when it makes sense.
In this context, decentralized finance (DeFi) will become a favored investment theme for traditional investors, alongside the first-layer blockchain protocols (L1).
However, due to the lower market cap limits of DeFi projects, their growth potential is greater, and they align closely with fundamentals and data. This year, some DeFi projects have already generated over $100 million in revenue, which will undoubtedly attract the attention of traditional investors.
Traditional investors have huge amounts of capital, and ample funding is key to the healthy growth of the market. Don't forget that many institutional investors are also dominated by traditional investors.
It is foreseeable that DeFi will ultimately become an important layout direction for top institutional investors.
BlackRock has already begun collaborating with DeFi projects, and this trend is gradually forming.
DeFi is not a cyclical investment; it is more like a long-term investment, similar to how past investors viewed BTC and ETH.
The long-term potential of AAVE may be viewed as comparable to that of ETH.
When you invest in blue-chip DeFi projects, you can focus on long-term development;
When you choose to invest in a brand new DeFi native project, you can consider short-term gains, and these projects may also bring multiple or even higher returns.
In a DeFi-dominated crypto market, many emerging projects will continuously appear, while some established projects will regain attention. You will see waves of price increases around these projects.
In the DeFi space, many blue-chip applications (such as Uniswap) are planning to transform into underlying infrastructure projects. This transformation will further enhance the value potential of tokens, and some projects may announce adjustments to fee mechanisms next year, so you need to be prepared for this.
These changes will inject strong momentum into the narrative of DeFi development.
I expect DeFi to dominate at least two quarters next year, just like AI's performance this year.
As for AI, I believe 2025 will be a year when AI faces widespread criticism in popular culture due to its rapid and uncontrolled expansion.
The discussion of 'Responsible AI' will become a focal point.
Market activities around crypto AI infrastructure, AI agents, and Initial Agentic Offerings may enter an adjustment period due to the narrative of 'Responsible AI.'
But before that, I expect AI agents to experience a round of bubble-like growth.
Currently, there are 13,000 agents in the market, and I expect this number to grow to at least 100,000.
Subsequently, we may enter a bubble phase, which will burst in the following year.
When this will happen in a specific quarter will depend on the timeline of AI regulatory events.
Regulation will also trigger interest in privacy infrastructure, and therefore, major projects involving confidential DeFi, privacy computing, privacy storage, and privacy reasoning will receive more attention, which will also be reflected in their asset performance (PA).
The meme market will remain active.
Although regulators may not support it, people will always find ways to enter, as it is impossible to completely block access.
Speculators will continue to look for opportunities among the 100,000 new coins added daily.
However, some established memes, such as DOGE and PEPE, may attract the attention of more serious investors.
Even if you don't like memes, you should consider leaving some investment exposure for them.
2025 will also be a year for mobile Web3 wallets and super apps to shine.
Recently, a Web3 wallet company named Exodus went public on NASDAQ with a valuation of $1.2 billion, which may spur a speculative frenzy next year around tokens associated with Web3 wallets that have strong revenue performance.
AI and DeFi will be the two core narratives for next year:
DeFi is expected to dominate;
AI agents may enter a bubble phase;
Meme speculation will attract more people to participate;
Privacy and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) will emerge in a certain quarter;
Web3 wallets will gain more attention and promote mainstream adoption through more convenient user onboarding and better experiences.
That's all for my sharing.
Please note that I am neither an astrologer nor an expert in the cryptocurrency field. I am just an ordinary person with some random thoughts about the market, so don't take my views too seriously.
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'Xingyang Talks New Narratives in Crypto' is dedicated to the research of new narratives in the crypto industry. I have nearly 8 years of industry experience, having gone through the bull markets of 2017 and 2021, during which I also took some wrong turns (missed opportunities, experienced losses), and explored and researched some insights and experiences, hoping to communicate and grow together with more people interested in the crypto space.
The narrative of each major market cycle is different from the past; for example, 2023 is about inscriptions and the Solana ecosystem, while the first half of 2024 is about AI and memes, and the second half is focused on new move-based public chains, memes, and Solana. Only by grasping the latest narrative hotspots and the rotation patterns of concept sectors can one achieve results, which is the experience I have explored. We are currently on the path to the main upward wave of the BTC bull market in 2025 (which occurs once every four years), and a new round of wealth opportunities is right in front of us. Let's grasp and witness it together. I am preparing to ambush a project that will soar in the short term; doubling your investment is not a problem. Friends who are interested but lack direction can like and leave a comment '168' for a free share.
