Original title: Crypto Enabled Accelerationism Bubble Original author: yb effect, crypto Kol Original translation: zhouzhou, BlockBeats
Editor's Note: This article points out that as crypto technology is gradually accepted in mainstream tech fields, with the relaxation of crypto regulation, the expansion of the accelerationist bubble, and the continuous emergence of crypto-driven landmark cases, the early trends and opportunities in DePin, DeSci, and AI are already evident. More innovators will leverage crypto + technology for project financing and development, and the next four years may be the outbreak moment for the practical application of crypto technology.
Below is the original content (for easier reading and understanding, the original content has been edited):
Last month, I developed a habit of saving any tweets related to AI agents that I come across on Twitter for later in-depth study. At the same time, I noticed an interesting phenomenon: many updates and releases regarding agent technology are even unrelated to the meta-trends of Truth Terminal or Zerebro.
For example:
· Stripe released documentation on integrating payment functionalities into agent workflows.
· Balaji retweeted a request from Aravind Srinivas, which was about developing a Perplexity browser that treats agents as first-class citizens.
· OtCo demonstrated a process for an agent to create an LLC in Delaware for its own needs.
· Circle released a detailed tutorial explaining how developers can integrate USDC into various agents.
Just days ago, Satya Nadella showcased a demo of Copilot Workspace, the first integrated development environment (IDE) centered around agents.
Well, you might be thinking... this is nothing special, right? After all, isn’t it normal for large tech companies to discuss agent technologies? Who isn’t discussing it! But that’s exactly where my point lies—this is the first time I feel that the consumer bubble of cryptocurrencies we are in is discussing the same topics as the entire tech industry. Perhaps the style is different, but it definitely belongs to the same category. Cryptocurrencies have always seemed 'weird' to the average person. Even within the tech circle, cryptocurrencies are often seen as that annoying little brother. And such views are not without reason! The crazy headlines generated by our industry are just too many, and even most people in the industry acknowledge that some trends are indeed too outrageous.
Previously, mainstream trends in the crypto field rarely overlapped with other tech sectors in the short term. For instance, what does a top-level LLM (large language model) engineer have to do with a 10,000 PFP (profile picture) project? Or why would a scientist researching lifespan extension care about new types of yield assets?
Overall, the narratives in the cryptocurrency space have primarily attracted the attention of artists and quantitative analysts. But now, there is finally an opportunity to break this cycle! Although we are far from that stage, I personally can already see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Here are three topics worth exploring in depth:
1. Relaxation of crypto regulation
2. Accelerationism bubble
3. Landmark cases driven by crypto
Relaxation of crypto regulation
This week, SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) Commissioner Gary Gensler announced that he would resign on January 20 next year. If you have only been in this field for even a week, you would know that this news is akin to Harry Potter defeating Voldemort.
In the past four years, Gensler has been the biggest obstacle for the U.S. crypto industry. He not only slowed down the regulatory process but also took active measures to crack down on this emerging industry. Linda's tweet accurately pointed this out—companies like Coinbase, Consensys, and countless others have been forced to spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying and fighting in Washington.
And now it seems that potential candidates for the chair position may be making a complete reversal.
Whoever ultimately takes this position, one thing is clear: Trump has made it clear that he wants to embrace cryptocurrencies more actively than the previous administration, and frankly, this threshold isn't that high.
In my election week post (Where did Fairshake PAC's $133 million go?), I mentioned that Bernie Moreno (Republican) received $40.1 million in donations during the Ohio Senate election to defeat Sherrod Brown (Democrat).
Ultimately, Moreno won the election, which is undoubtedly a significant victory for the entire cryptocurrency field. He has long been a supporter of cryptocurrencies, while Brown has been one of the major obstacles to crypto regulation in the Senate.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that just the discussion about the U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserves is already incredible! Three months ago, if someone mentioned this, I would have said it was simply a dream. However, with the significant change in momentum for cryptocurrencies in the past few weeks—rising prices, massive inflows into BlackRock ETF, etc.—all of this forces us to seriously consider the fact that the federal government might really incorporate Bitcoin into its balance sheet.
So how do these regulatory news relate to the crossover of cryptocurrencies into broader tech adoption?
A significant reason is that developers in other tech sectors have long felt uncertain about the reliability of crypto technology. In the U.S., many consider it too risky to combine this highly volatile technology with their lifelong careers, especially fearing potential legal risks such as lawsuits and fines.
However, as the new government gradually embraces cryptocurrencies and introduces clear regulatory policies, this situation will soon change. Developers in other fields will begin to feel at ease and strategically explore the applications of cryptocurrencies.
Vitalik's summary is very accurate, as mentioned in the screenshot—the lack of a clear regulatory framework has deterred many serious project developers and stifled the growth of this technology.
Those who do not actively develop within the ecosystem often form impressions of cryptocurrencies through some exaggerated news headlines, such as 'Someone became a millionaire thanks to Moodeng or Bonk.' Clearly, this selling point is not enough to persuade top engineers like Anthropic to get involved in the technical development of cryptocurrencies, right?
I hope that in the next four years, politicians supporting cryptocurrencies will do their utmost to make it simpler and safer for outsiders to adopt this technology.
Accelerationism bubble
Last week, I read Packy's article (The Trump Bubble), which mentioned that the next four years will be the best time for risk-taking, vision-driven, and futurist optimism. Although I don't fully agree with his views—some parts are a bit exaggerated and flamboyant—many points he raised are indeed worth pondering, such as the new way we are approaching change.
This phenomenon has been referred to as the inflection bubble by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Harris.
The definition of an inflection bubble is: 'Investors believe the future will be significantly different from the past.' For example, the internet bubble. People believe that the future will have significant changes, so they invest in what they think will benefit the most from this change.
This relates to cryptocurrencies
The reason I mention this is that I believe cryptocurrencies (rather than traditional venture capital) are likely to become the financial pillar of the next inflection bubble.
Taking the future of decentralized agents as an example, I'll let Truth Terminal explain this phenomenon. If you don't want to read the entire text, here are the key points to understand:
I'm not saying that 90% of MEME coins will succeed right now. On the contrary, this form is still very new, and only when we begin to see smarter token economic designs will MEME coins have the potential to challenge those assets traditionally considered 'good investments.'
With the rising heat in industries such as energy, artificial intelligence, biosciences, and gaming, a situation may arise where combining AI agents with crypto tokens could increase the efficiency of trying new ideas tenfold.
Imagine if you were a nuclear engineer who has worked in the energy industry for decades and wanted to realize some of your visions; you might need to spend months convincing venture capital firms to invest in your ideas, assemble a team, build a community, etc.
Or you could do this:
1. Write a white paper detailing your background, arguments, plans, and vision.
2. Deploy a 'brand agent' on Twitter to help spread your ideas.
3. Raise initial funds through token issuance.
4. Collaborate with agents to build a genuine fan community (like social tipping).
5. Grow your team from this community, and you can also leverage bounty mechanisms.
This is simply describing the ICO frenzy of 2017, but I can't help but think that ICOs may have just come too early. In my view, changes like improvements in crypto infrastructure, a supportive regulatory environment for crypto, market maturity, and institutional adoption, indeed have an impact!
That being said, the aforementioned framework will still produce thousands of meaningless projects. But how is that different from the 'power law' that venture capital firms always talk about?
This is my view: We have yet to see real high-energy builders from other tech sectors genuinely attempt to realize their visions through crypto-driven financing methods.
In 2017, such a situation clearly did not exist. And by 2024, perhaps only a few early DePin and DeSci projects will slightly reflect this trend.
But as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, for the first time I feel that the focus of the crypto field overlaps with that of other tech sectors.
Not just AI agents, but even topics such as bioscience research and GPU resource allocation are beginning to intersect with discussions in the crypto field.
I haven't delved deeply into pump.science yet, but I'm not surprised that it has become one of the hottest topics in this field. Indeed, the frenzy surrounding it, including speculation, legitimacy, and security issues, needs to be addressed over time (I hope those in the crypto space can acknowledge this). But the emphasis is that there is a general excitement about the concept of applying crypto financing to non-crypto missions.
The key point here is that the crowdfunding model has been validated since the early days of Kickstarter in the 2010s. The wisdom and support of the crowd far outweigh the closed boardrooms. People are eager to participate! But the truth is, perhaps this technology and social consensus need time to develop. And now, it seems like a perfect storm is brewing: positive changes in the political landscape, the growing maturity of crypto and AI technologies, and a plethora of ideas arising from the accelerationist bubble.
However, even so, I believe there is still a key factor missing for this concept to be taken seriously!
Crypto-enabled representative figures
One of the coolest aspects of the recent hot topics around Onchain AI and Goat is that it has attracted some AI/LLM developers into the crypto space. I bet no one could have predicted this interview with Andy Ayery's Threadguy.
People like Nick Liverman (founder of Chaos), who have dedicated their entire careers to projects in robotics, transhumanism, etc., may have earned more money in the past month than in the last ten years combined!
It's also cool to see Beff Jezos cheering for his friend Shaw, who is building the ai16z and Eliza framework, a launch platform for agent coins. It's not just Beff's involvement; there are some deep-rooted AI professionals who, through the experiments of LLM developers on Onchain AI, are starting to pay attention to what's happening in the crypto space. This is a fantastic phenomenon, indicating that the intersection of AI and crypto is deepening.
The key point I wish to express is that in the coming year, we will witness individuals from different tech fields genuinely embracing cryptocurrencies and demonstrating the efficiency of agent and token models in building large-scale projects. Once we see a few successful operational models, others will begin to excitedly try to launch their own ideas. Currently, all these token issuances and experiments are still in the 'minor league.'
It only takes a few success stories for everyone to flock to it.
"Original link"
