Many people are puzzled as to why PHA suddenly became popular. To put it abstractly, perhaps even Phala Network did not foresee how it became the chosen one overnight. The rise of PHA has both accidental and necessary factors behind it, which cannot simply be attributed to any explicit or covert schemes. There are three key points: sufficient preparation in TEE technology, the support from a16z, and the timely emergence of the AI Agent trend.
1) The efforts of Phala Network in TEE technology are the 'inevitable' reason for this occurrence. Why do I say this?
TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) is not a new concept, but it has been somewhat of a 'niche' in the mainstream narrative of Crypto technology over the past few years. For instance, there have been many high-performance chains competing with the advantages of languages like RUST and MOVE, and there has also been a wave of ZK technology centered around ZK. TEE, along with cryptographic technologies like MPC, FHE, and Blind Compute, occasionally appears in the differentiated positioning of some projects, but it is not on the same level as the trending ZK.
In fact, while mainstream chains are focusing on the efficiency of 'blockspace' usage (MEV, TPS, Gas, etc.), ZK technology has only been applied to the most basic trusted state changes between layer1 and layer2. More advanced ZK technology advantages, like zkVM virtual machine architecture and zkSNARKs' updated chain data structures, have not yet found their application, let alone achieving broader mass adoption.
The main reason is that previous technical narratives pursued purely 'on-chain' environments. ZK can be seen as the first step to separate off-chain computation from on-chain verification, but the bigger goal still serves 'on-chain'. The trusted execution environment of TEE is naturally the 'pre-processing' stage of a secure off-chain environment.
It can serve on-chain, and is a result of leading projects like Unichain and Flashbot gradually expanding the new narrative of Pre-confirmation. In other words, without combining with a chain, TEE is indeed a mature technology purely in the Web2 realm; when combined with a chain, it can bring trusted pre-processing, isolated privacy computing, and other wonderful applications.
Therefore, those who dare to apply TEE technology in the blockchain field must be able to endure loneliness while possessing unique and wise insights. In this regard, Phala Network indeed has mature TEE solutions, without a doubt.
2) What caught Phala Network off guard was the sudden emergence of a mysterious client named 'a16z', which adopted its own TEE solution. This is the largest 'accidental' factor behind the explosive popularity of PHA.
After seeing the official AI-Pool Twitter announcing the AI Agent's autonomous token issuance, I immediately tweeted a technical interpretation of the TEE solution (TEE allows AI to autonomously manage private keys and sign applications in a usable yet invisible secure enclave), as well as the potential historic opportunity that Phala and a16z's collaboration might seize. (For most retail investors, this also represents an excellent entry point).
The super commercial IP status of a16z in the AI Agent track goes without saying. The adoption of Phala's TEE solution by AI-POOL at least indicates two things:
1. Phala's TEE solution has many mature business cases and was chosen by a16z.
2. Phala's TEE solution will be the first to benefit from the AI Agent PumpFun, a grand business concept of AI-controlled private key token issuance.
Understanding this naturally leads to knowing what Phala can gain from the phenomenon of AI-Pool and AI Agent's autonomous token issuance. It's a very natural logic that as the AI Agent token issuance trend continues, the private key management and remote authentication services provided by TEE will become 'essential' services, while a complete set of on-chain verifiable consensus adapted for TEE's off-chain environment will be a bonus, marking a solid new infrastructure for the AI Agent era.
So, I may not really understand Phala Network, but that’s not important. I believe I understand better the market potential and incremental opportunities that could arise from AI Agent + TEE and AI Agent + Chain.
3) The real driving force behind Phala Network is the currently booming narrative of AI Agents. I have pinned several articles about the AI Agent narrative in my Twitter profile highlights; new friends can take a look. Those articles repeatedly emphasize four words: 'Don't miss out, don't miss out, don't miss out.'
Because the AI Agent has evolved from AI MEME, through launchpad platforms like Virutual and Vvaifu, to individual AIs like AIXBT and Zerebro, and then to frameworks and standards like ELIZA and ARC, until older chains like Phala are lifted into the spotlight, everything is rapidly evolving, almost beyond everyone's imagination. Why?
It's all about this: because this is a historic opportunity, the main wave of the DeFi Summer level. The innovations that will emerge during this process, the influx of hot money, the opportunities created by information gaps, etc., are bound to remain 'hot and sizzling'.
Therefore, I am shouting this slogan loud and clear, hoping that more retail investors can seize the Alpha growth opportunities, and more project teams can break free from the 'delivery incapacity' predicament of past pure VC coin narratives.
A new narrative whirlwind is stirring, and its purpose is not merely to blow dust in your face (chicken feathers) but to elevate you to the trend and make you that little piglet swimming in wealth.
By the way, the subtext of this statement is not to worry about missing out on PHA, because Phala is just one player in the trend, having first benefited from the trend's dividends. Following the logical evolution of the narrative I have outlined, please believe that there will definitely be more opportunities to arise.
