2024 is a crucial year for the cryptocurrency market. With the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, people have a deeper anticipation for a bull market in 2024. Before the bull market, let’s take a look at the 9 major tracks that Web3 may trigger. This article is sourced from ArkStream Capital’s article “ArkStream Capital: 9 Major Tracks for the Eruption of Web3 in 2024”, compiled, translated, and written by Deep Tide.
(Background:
Investment Essential: How to Properly Take Profits in a Cryptocurrency Bull Market?)
Table of Contents:
1. ETH L2 Summer Arrives as Scheduled
2. Modularity is the Inevitable Iteration of Public Chain Technology
3. BTCfi Eruption: Achieving 10% Liquidity Release of Bitcoin
4. Restaking: The Consensus Nesting Doll of Proof-of-Stake
5. The Second Cycle of Gamefi
6. AI+Web3: Long-term Narratives in Algorithms, Computing Power, and Verifiability
7. Depin: Physical Flywheel-like DeFi, Index Growth
8. Social: Ongoing Experimentation with Social Currency
9. DeFi Derivatives: Ready to Erupt
ETH+L2 has become the largest homogenous cross-chain ecosystem in practice. With the launch of Starknet/zkSync/Scroll/Blast, the competition in the L2 market will intensify in both technical and market directions.
Focus targets: Starknet/zkSync/Scroll/Blast/Manta
With the launch of Celestia, there are signs of the market share of the DA layer breaking away from Ethereum’s exclusive monopoly. Currently, OP Stack, Polygon CDK, and others have provided mature smart contract frameworks, allowing the industry to explore the tokenization of Bitcoin with the front-end BitVM paper. Various sub-domains, such as shared/decentralized sequencers and RaaS services, are blossoming, marking the rapid modularization of blockchain.
Focus targets: Celestia/Altlayer/Dymension/Avail/Fuel/Espresso
The combination of purism and market hotspots will generate unexpected energy. The value of BTC liquidity release is a yet untapped gold mine. After the narrative of the inscription, there will be a wave of BTC L2 and BTC application, with the potential release of over 10% of Bitcoin liquidity. BTCfi will carry a market worth more than $100 billion.
Focus targets: Stacks/Merlin/B2 Network/Chainway
In the narrative of modular blockchains, there are very few projects exploring the consensus layer. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two well-recognized projects that provide consensus security for the whole network. The introduction of Restaking can help emerging blockchain projects obtain appropriate security during the launch phase, thereby avoiding the adoption of unhealthy token mechanisms with excessive inflation. Babylon is mainly dominant in the Bitcoin ecosystem, and the Ethereum ecosystem is led by EigenLayer, which has already derived narratives such as LSD (Liquidity Sharing Device) and LRD (Liquidity Repledging Derivative?). Pendle, as a unique project in the ecosystem that splits principal and interest, has performed well in terms of TVL, user data, and token price.
Focus targets: EigenLayer/Babylon/Renzo/Puffer/Pendle
The widespread adoption of MPC wallets broadens user capabilities. Games with more playability after 3 years of iteration will have stronger user capture capabilities than their predecessors. Richer game content will increase the complexity of the economic system, gradually moving away from the pure Ponzi attributes of the previous cycle.
Focus targets: Illuvium/Space Nation/Lumiterra/Matr1x
AI is the main narrative in the field of technology, and its iteration will continuously inject vitality into crypto. Onchain AI can achieve the automation and dynamization of machine learning and artificial intelligence using smart contracts. At the same time, blockchain technology provides transparent and verifiable solutions for various aspects of AI (such as zkML/opML). In addition, AI models, GPU computing power, data feeding, and data labeling can all be integrated into the blockchain.
Focus targets: TAO/OLAS/JANCTION
Depin is a new phenomenon-level online + offline token distribution and service provision model. In a period of gradually improving infrastructure, the application of crypto will lead to exponential growth in the network index of Depin.
Focus targets: Mobile/Io.net/Meson/POKT
Although Friend.tech’s attempt failed, the explosive power of monetizing social interactions has been demonstrated, and resistance to censorship and security are the calls of social media in Web3. Social protocols such as Lens and Farcaster still carry hope.
Focus targets: Farcaster/Lens/Nostr
Financial scenarios are always the most suitable and valuable applications for blockchain with real yield. GMX’s global shared liquidity pool and Gains’ efficient capital utilization scheme continue to lead the market. In this bull market, futures protocols such as Aevo and Whales have also brought about pre-market explosions. We believe that derivatives are one of the best long-term fundamental narratives.
Focus targets: GMX/Gains/Drift/Apex/Aevo/Whales
(related reports:
After the Enrichment from Starknet Airdrop, What Other Opportunities Are Worth Laying Low in 2024?
M6 Cryptocurrency Weekly Report: ETF Continues to Drive Bitcoin, INJ Ecosystem Airdrop
Preparing for the Cryptocurrency Bull Market! Bloomberg: Retail Investors Begin to Return Cautiously, Coinbase Trading Volume at 16% of Previous Peak)