OKX Ventures partner Jeff delivered a keynote speech titled “Exploring the Future of the Bitcoin Ecosystem” at the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival sponsored by OKX Web3 on April 9th. The forum, themed around Bitcoin, was co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab, HashKey Group, and Nervos CKB.
Jeff first shared the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. He stated that in the past two years, the cryptocurrency market has been continuously growing, and the OKX Ventures team has always believed in its underlying value and resilience. In terms of trading volume, the current upward cycle started in September 2023. As of March 2024, the monthly total trading volume has exceeded 7 trillion US dollars.
Furthermore, comparing the 2022 data released by the World Bank, the total trading volume of the US stock market was $43.22 trillion, and the trading volume of cryptocurrencies has reached a similar level. From the perspective of investment and financing in the crypto market, after the frenzy in 2021 and 2022, the total market investment in 2023 dropped to around $10 billion. The focus of investment is mainly on infrastructure, gaming, DeFi, and other areas. The total investment and financing in the first quarter of 2024 exceeded $2.6 billion, which is currently in a moderate state compared to historical data.
Of course, it is worth noting that Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions have emerged in response to the limitations of Bitcoin itself, which lacks Turing completeness and support for smart contracts. The development of these protocols aims to provide scalability to the Bitcoin network by processing transactions outside the Bitcoin main chain, thereby improving the overall performance of Bitcoin.
In addition to the progress in the Bitcoin ecosystem, the listing of BTC spot ETFs this year is also a milestone event in the industry. At the beginning of the year, the US SEC finally approved the listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs. As of April 1st, the average daily net inflow of funds into the Bitcoin spot ETF was $219 million, and the average daily trading volume reached $3.37 billion.
Speaking of this year, the Bitcoin halving is another significant event in the industry. This halving is influenced by various new developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem, especially the growth of NFTs and the listing of spot ETFs. The emergence of Bitcoin NFTs injects new vitality into on-chain activities, and the ongoing growth of on-chain activities benefits from renewed attention from developers and innovations in the Bitcoin blockchain. At the same time, the widespread adoption of Bitcoin ETFs may absorb selling pressure, reshape the market structure, and provide new stable demand sources for BTC prices. These factors collectively have a certain impact on the price of BTC.
In addition to the dynamics related to Bitcoin itself, the integration of AI and crypto has also been a recent focus in the industry. Currently, several possible points of integration can be analyzed from a technical perspective:
1. The decentralized and permanent storage characteristics of blockchain provide solid integrity support for AI data and models.
2. The introduction of token economics will effectively support incentives and payment mechanisms for AI in terms of data, models, and computing resources.
3. With the continuous development of blockchain technology and the improvement of computing power, it is expected to deploy AI models on-chain in the future, promoting deep integration between blockchain and artificial intelligence, and bringing unprecedented changes and innovative opportunities to various industries.
When discussing OKX Ventures’ investment layout, Jeff admitted that in the face of challenges and a crypto market based on uncertainty, OKX Ventures has always actively embraced industry development and has been committed to contributing its own efforts. In 2023, OKX Ventures’ total external investment exceeded $50 million, covering multiple areas including the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a focus on infrastructure.
In conclusion, Jeff said that OKX Ventures, as the investment department of OKX, is dedicated to exploring and investing in innovative projects in the blockchain technology and digital currency ecosystem. They are committed to promoting the healthy development of the industry through investment support and seeking emerging technologies and business models that can drive the advancement of the digital economy.