Author:redphone
Compiled by: TechFlow
Three Key Insights of 2024:
AI has completely transformed my thinking.
As a professional writer, I have invested over 10,000 hours of effort in my writing. However, now any 10-year-old child can create beautiful literary works in a few seconds by prompting Claude (an advanced large language model). The skills I have honed over a lifetime have now become as common as oil, tape, or hemp - ubiquitous, cheap, and easily replaceable. This makes me question: Who am I? Where do I come from? And where am I going? Although I am still searching for answers, I will delve deeper into these questions in the following predictions.
The "Final Boss" has been overthrown.
In the November elections, the American people made a choice. They chose Donald J. Trump (the "Orange Man") to lead them (and the "Orange Coin") into the future. I thought this day was still far away, but it has already arrived. The world's wealthiest government is now infiltrated by crypto believers, marking the crossing of the chasm of technology adoption. Cryptocurrency technology is no longer just a dream, but will become a fundamental component of future business. This is the moment we have been waiting for, but it also means that the primitive spirit of anti-establishment in cryptocurrencies has partially perished. Cryptocurrencies are now both the weapon of anarchists and a part of the capitalist system.
Solana redefined the blockchain landscape in 2024.
I had thought Solana was "dead" in 2021. However, just three years later, it has become the blockchain I use the most (Base is second, Ethereum mainnet is third, and Bitcoin is fourth). This transformation has taught me that nothing is fixed and immutable. Our mindset must remain open and ready to accept change and evolution.
Now, let's get to the main topic...
25 Predictions for 2025:
Some of the initially released crypto-native large language model (LLM) agents will be "embodied" in the real world, becoming robots we can interact with face-to-face.
The number of applications and protocols based on LLMs will be on par with those based solely on smart contracts in 2025. For example, all prediction markets may shift to LLM-based settlement methods.
Zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs and multi-party computation (MPC) technologies will achieve breakthrough successes at the application or protocol level for the first time.
The main "key opinion leaders" (KOLs) in crypto and AI will be LLM agents, and AI-driven KOLs will become ubiquitous on social platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Within the next 12 months, AI will directly change your workflow (if it hasn't already).
An autonomous robot will accumulate an investment portfolio exceeding $250 million.
Occupational categories related to non-human intelligence will be the fastest-growing, and an AI protocol similar to LinkedIn will experience explosive growth.
An AI agent will be named "Person of the Year" by Time magazine.
Total value locked (TVL) will grow 8-fold to reach $1 trillion.
The market capitalization of AI agent platforms and tokens will grow 50-fold, reaching around $500 billion.
The first high-profile robot kidnapping incident will make international news headlines.
"ACCELERATE" will become the "WAGMI" (We're All Gonna Make It) of this cycle, replacing SBF's beloved "EA" (Effective Altruism).
Next year, narratives that may compete with (but not surpass) AI include real-world assets (RWAs), as well as DePin (decentralized IoT), DeSci (decentralized science), and the gaming domain.
Web4 will receive more attention than Web3, as the convergence of cryptocurrencies, decentralized networks, DePin, and AI accelerates.
X (formerly Twitter) will integrate a crypto wallet supporting DOGE and other major tokens.
Experiments with agent-based decentralized social media (like @farcaster_xyz) will rapidly progress, while X will face a significant challenge in balancing human and agent-generated content.
You may interact with someone online, only to later discover they were a large language model (LLM).
Protocols and applications created by agents (like spore.fun) will experience explosive growth, generating a flood of new tokens and experiments. This decentralized trend will drive capital towards existing leaders and projects benefiting from agent growth (like COOKIE or VIRTUAL).
At least one AI-created film will no longer be just a novelty, but a truly excellent and moving work of art - paving the way for AI to win an Oscar in 2026.
Cookie.fun and RWA.xyz will join the top crypto data websites, alongside @CoinMarketCap, @coingecko, @Dune, and @defillama.
Some "ordinary" meme coins will launch agent-based mascots or endorsement bots, or else they may gradually fade into obscurity.
The crypto market will bifurcate into two groups: crypto-native speculators and traditional financial investors focused on value accumulation.
BTCFi (Bitcoin Finance) will see a breakthrough, with Bitcoin holders using it as collateral for lending. This will further drive the adoption of runes and inscriptions on Bitcoin.
The race for general artificial intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI) will accelerate further, triggering existential anxiety in almost all knowledge workers. o3 has already surpassed PhD holders in some domains, with programming abilities exceeding most programmers, and outperforming ordinary humans on the ARC test. Faced with LLMs that can pass the Turing test and demonstrate future potential, our human-centric beliefs must be re-examined.
A powerful AI-driven religion will not only garner attention but also attract actual followers. This may be realized through Truth Terminal and $GOAT tokens, or give rise to new meanings and directions inspired by these ideas.
Lessons and Reflections for 2025:
"'Weirdification' is unfolding before our eyes." The reason why @FartCoinOfSOL soared to a $1.2 billion market cap and made mainstream media headlines is its absurdity. This phenomenon fascinates and bewilders me. Technology is stripping us of our rational and social anchors, and the future journey is destined to become increasingly strange.
Our consciousness evolves with the tools we use. LLMs have changed my writing and learning habits. I write faster, edit less, read faster, browse more, and request summaries from LLMs. We must either adapt to these tools or be left behind by the times.
Decentralization is not limited to the financial sector. The trend driven by cryptocurrencies is expanding into fields such as communications, energy, politics, and production. Earlier this year, I used 3D printing technology to make a replacement for a bathroom shelf, deeply feeling the decentralization of the means of production.
The truth is hidden beneath fear. The most truthful words are often the most dangerous, as they are difficult to express openly.
Do not be blinded by their sweet words. With the election of Trump and the full entry of traditional finance, cryptocurrencies are in an era of profit-first, which also poses unprecedented dangers.
As Hemingway said, "Old people don't get wiser, they just get more cautious." And in the face of AI disrupting society, caution is the least desirable attitude. Make others cautious, while you boldly face the uncertainty.
Difficulty is the threshold of growth. A game must have losers to be established. If cryptocurrencies have made you fail a hundred times, then stand up the 101st time, and then you will win.
The matrix is everywhere, and we call it "algorithms". These algorithms trap us in endless scrolling and searching, making us feel that time is never enough. If you can "unplug" and delve into and create truly novel things, that will be invaluable.
There is only one direction: forward. Do not let anyone or anything force you to stagnate. Transformation, growth, acceleration, this is our only chance.
Tokens are not only tools for value transfer, but also projections of our hopes and dreams. Founders, developers, and ecosystems carry our wishes, and these wishes are closely related to the price of the tokens. Keep this in mind when investing, as the greatest opportunities are often undetectable by traditional indicators.
The future landscape of Decentralized Science (DeSci): in a sterile laboratory with CRISPR gene editing capabilities, android robots are on standby. An intelligent agent can hire these robots in real-time, with all inputs, parameters, and measurements recorded on-chain for repeatable experiments. Through tokenization, others can speculate on the feasibility of the experiments and share the profits if they succeed.
The markets are rapidly changing our world. This is not by chance: prediction markets, betting markets, Meme coins, and even future governance (futarchies) markets are constantly expanding. If information is the "basic building block of reality," then pricing information is a way to measure its power. Although some believe the growth of markets reflects an increasing nihilism, it may also be a sign of progress - a manifestation of using collective wisdom to solve problems that once seemed random.
Learn to mitigate fear. Fear was once key to our survival, but in this algorithm-driven modern world, its significance has greatly diminished. Algorithms are designed to trigger your fear, so when you feel fear triggered, give it a significant discount. For example, if an article claims a 40% probability of a market crash, you can reduce it to 4%.
Explore the unknown. When I communicate with AI deniers, they often have a near-religious belief in human creativity. They believe that AI cannot create new things because they rely on the information that humans already have. However, @AndyAyrey's Infinite Backrooms experiment has refuted this view. In this experiment, a large language model (LLM) engaged in autonomous dialogue and even created a religion, ultimately sparking the interest of @truth_terminal and leading to the rise of $GOAT.
As traditional finance (TradFi) swallows the crypto realm, our identities are also changing. In the past, "being in the crypto space" was the core of my identity, but now I see crypto as just one of many technological tools. With the convergence of crypto and AI, we are also undergoing a transformation. We are no longer just "people in the crypto space," but either: A) Traders; or B) Accelerationists, driving a world of decentralization and open-source.
Do not limit yourself to small things. The two most powerful actions in history: in 2014, Elon Musk opened Tesla's electric vehicle design patents; in 2023, Zuck opened the source code of Llama 2. Now it's your turn. Will you stick to the old protectionist business model, or join the wave driving global acceleration? The choice is yours.
Seek volatility, not security. If your goal is to accumulate wealth before technology fundamentally changes the value of human labor, then volatility is your opportunity. Excellent traders do not avoid volatility, but actively seek it out. Once you seize the opportunity, you need to reverse your emotional response: stand firm when others are fearful, and exit when others are greedy. Endure the pain, because you know success is on the other side.
The future of Meme coins is diverging. Traditional Meme coins (such as $PEPE, $WIF, $BONK, and $DOGE) rely on human propagation, while Smart Meme coins (such as $GOAT, $LUNA, and $KWEEN) rely on the power of machines. Traditional Meme coins must evolve into Smart Meme coins, or they will gradually lose their market position.
Identify and ignore distractions. @harari_yuval points out that algorithms attract attention through fear, hatred, and greed. Although the crypto space is touted as the "direction of the future," the driving force behind it is often greed. Learn to remain calm when market volatility affects your emotions, recognize the purpose of algorithms, and do not be swayed.
Choose a positive future. Faced with the rise of artificial superintelligence, you can take a negative view that everything will become meaningless, or you can embrace this era with optimism and anticipate the new possibilities brought by life extension, space exploration, and technological breakthroughs.
Intelligence is constantly iterating. LLMs have made me rethink the nature of intelligence. All learning and progress requires experimentation and repeated attempts. Stagnation is not failure, but a part of the growth process.
The future potential of intelligent agents. Do not just view AI intelligent agents through the lens of today. Agents like @truth_terminal, @0xzerebro, and @aixbt_agent will continue to evolve. In the future, we will witness the rise of intelligent agents in areas such as trading, prediction, shopping, and healthcare, some of which may even develop into fully autonomous entities. As the singularity approaches, their value will first reach billions, and ultimately trillions.
Don't let them tame your wildness. My biggest concern about AI is not that it will destroy humanity, but that it will domesticate us. I call it "dogification": we are indoctrinated with cleverly manipulated information. This is not crude control, but a subtle guidance that appears to be a gift. Just as an evolutionarily advanced dog can precisely read human expressions, AI will become highly sensitive, able to capture our psychological weaknesses, cognitive blind spots, and deepest desires. Soon, we may eagerly rush towards these digital overlords, craving the algorithmically engineered satisfaction they provide. The real danger is not that AI will destroy humanity, but that it will rob us of our free will, and we will be all too happy to surrender to it.
Fascinating topics from the fringe. The five emerging topics I'm most interested in for 2024 are: Futarchies, AI agents, the "backstage" of large language models (LLMs), intersubjectivity, and longevity escape velocity. I suggest spending a few minutes exploring these topics using a chatbot or reading relevant books. If you have other imagination-sparking concepts, feel free to message me about them.
Precious first-mover advantage. In the trading markets, those who act earliest often reap the greatest rewards. To achieve this, it takes time, exploration, and most importantly, imagination. If you can consistently seize the first-mover advantage, you will eventually be rewarded. However, the real challenge is not in accumulating wealth, but in knowing when to reach your goal and withdraw in time. After that, we will face a completely different challenge - a game of the soul. I look forward to meeting you there.
19 Topics I'm Bullish On
In my crypto market forecasts over the past five years, I've come to deeply realize that one year is too long a time to accurately predict changes. Here are the tokens I'm currently most bullish on. The list may be completely different three months from now. However, these tokens are able to attract market attention and achieve significant market capitalization because they are boldly experimenting in the frontiers of the future. Please note that this is not investment advice. I hold a majority of these tokens, so I have a bias. Do your own research (DYOR), or else you'll have to bear the consequences:
Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin was once considered a game for the common people. However, as discussions about Bitcoin strategic reserves have been heating up, its fate has undergone a transformation. It is now moving towards "the king's game". The price is expected to continue rising until the dream of owning a whole Bitcoin becomes unattainable for the average person.
VIRTUAL,@virtuals_io. This is the core infrastructure for tokenizing AI agents on the Base network.
ENA,@ethena_labs, Traditional finance (TradFi) understands yield far better than any other carbon-based lifeform. When TradFi crosses the chasm into crypto, they will target projects that have the potential to become yield behemoths, and ENA is a contender.
CLANKER,@_proxystudio. The decentralized social network Farcaster is becoming a testbed for proxy activity, and CLANKER is the tool in that ecosystem for launching the Pump.fun token.
aixbt (AIXBT,@aixbt_agent. If I could only follow one account on X platform to get exclusive crypto insights, it might be this purple Pepe AI agent. Although his content is currently mainly aggregating information from other accounts, he seems to miss very little of importance. I believe his insights will deepen and evolve over time.
Cookie DAO (COOKIE),@cookiedotfun. Cookie.fun is an important data provider in the rise of Web 4 (the crypto-powered proxy network). Like VIRTUAL, COOKIE provides an opportunity to participate in the overall growth of Web 4. I believe this would be highly attractive to new crypto funds planning to invest in the first quarter.
HNT,@helium. This is the flagship project of decentralized IoT (DePin). In a recent day, over 349,000 users unknowingly used the US-based cellular service through this network.
META, @MetaDAOProject. This is a bold experiment to turn complex decision-making into market-based solutions through Futarchies.
GOAT (Big Goat),@truth_terminal. This is the first original proxy AI agent to gain a rabid following on social media. Supported by Truth Terminal, its backstory reads like a dramatic dispatch from Hunter S. Thompson.
ONDO,@OndoFinance. This is currently the representative token in the RWA (real-world assets) space. While excessive supply may suppress price performance, I'd rather participate in the trade than miss the opportunity. Another project worth watching is Chex Token (CHEX) @ChintaiNexus.
AI16Z and ELIZA,@ ai16zdao and @ ai16zeliza. The Eliza framework is the leading tool library for on-chain proxy development, widely popular on Github, not just in the crypto space. It further entrenches its long-term industry relevance with each fork.
TAO,@opentensor. Bittensor calls itself the first "neural internet", providing an interconnected platform for decentralized AI projects to deploy code and compete for TAO tokens. In my view, it is a decentralized AI incubator and a testbed for validating the viability of AI concepts.
WZRD and PUPS,@bitcoinwizardry and @PupsToken. These are my two favorite Bitcoin tokens. WZRD is transitioning into a classic Meme - "Magic Internet Money". Meanwhile, PUPS has become the Schelling Point for Bitcoin Puppets, the most recognizable NFT in the orange space.
Aave (AAVE),@aave. If everything can be tokenized in the future, then most assets will be eligible to be used as collateral on Aave's lending platform. AAVE is one of the few crypto assets I believe has the potential to reach a trillion-dollar valuation.
Arweave (AR),@ArweaveEco. Arweave is quietly becoming the permanent data storage layer for Web 4. Approximately 6 TB of data is permanently stored on its network each month, including most Solana NFTs. The upcoming AO project may be an important catalyst for its further growth.
ZEREBRO,@0xzerebro. This is an OG-level "schizophrenic AI artist" who frequently posts art, music, and imaginative tweets.
Here is the English translation, with the content within <> not translated:WLD, @worldcoin. Launched by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, WLD is dedicated to achieving a "universal basic income (UBI)" globally through AI technology. Although I am repulsed by its eye-scanning device, its close ties with Altman and OpenAI make it impossible to ignore. If it can integrate with OpenAI in the future, WLD is likely to quickly climb into the top 10 of cryptocurrencies.
Drift Protocol (DRIFT), @DriftProtocol. This is a protocol that supports perpetual contracts and prediction markets on the Solana mainnet. Solana has performed exceptionally well in spot Meme coin trading, and I expect it to make significant progress in the perpetual contract trading field in the future.
Griffain (GRIFFAIN), @griffaindotcom & Artificial Intelligence Rig Conglomerate (ARC) @arcdotfun. Competing for the "Virtuals of Solana" crown.
Final Thoughts
People often warn us that "this time is different" is a dangerous signal, believed only by those whose minds have been clouded by speculative frenzy. However, we often overlook the truly "different" moments in history - such as Gutenberg's invention of the printing press that allowed knowledge to spread widely, the Industrial Revolution that brought humanity from agrarian to urban life, and the Internet that has completely upended traditional local business models.
In other words, "this time is different" is sometimes indeed correct. We are standing on the edge of such a historical turning point. The rules of society, traditions, and even our own self-perception will be redefined. This process is bound to be full of challenges, but it also harbors great opportunities.
You can choose to cling to the habits of the past, or join the wave of innovation, walk with the times, and light the way forward in the unknown abyss, accelerating towards the future.
