Chainfeeds Introduction:
The crypto market is no longer the same as it was in 2017 or 2021.
Article Source:
https://www.ignasdefi.com/p/the-changing-crypto-order
Article author:
Ignas | DeFi Research
Viewpoint:
Ignas | DeFi Research: The launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF marks a major turning point. Just this month, the US SEC approved universal listing standards for commodity-based ETPs. This means faster approvals and the ability for more assets to enter the market. Grayscale has already preemptively submitted its application using this new regulation. Bitcoin ETFs have set a record for the most successful launch in history. Ethereum ETFs were initially slower to enter the market, but even in a weak market, they have already attracted billions of dollars in capital. Since April 8th, spot crypto ETFs have led all ETF categories, attracting $34 billion in net inflows, exceeding thematic ETFs, US Treasury bond ETFs, and even precious metals ETFs. Buyers include pension funds, investment advisors, and banks. Crypto assets now appear alongside gold and the Nasdaq in institutional portfolio discussions. Bitcoin ETFs already hold approximately $150 billion in AUM, representing over 6% of the circulating supply. Ethereum ETFs hold 5.59% of the total supply. All this has happened in just over a year. In the past, the crypto market was driven by an overall upward trend: BTC moved first, followed by ETH, and then flowed down to smaller coins. Liquidity flowed down the risk curve. But this time is different: not all tokens are rising together. Millions of tokens exist today, with new ones being issued daily through pump.fun. Creators are constantly shifting their focus from older tokens to their own meme coins. Supply is exploding, while retail investor attention is not increasing. Liquidity is spread across too many assets, and issuing tokens is almost cost-free. In the past, tokens with low circulation and high FDV were popular, often leading to airdrops. But now, retail investors have learned their lesson and prefer tokens that create value, or at least possess strong cultural gravitas (for example, $UNI, which has failed to rise significantly despite massive trading volume, is a counterexample). Ansem's point is correct: pure speculation has peaked. The new trend is revenue, as it is more sustainable. Applications with product-market fit and actual fee revenue will rise; the rest will not. Murad added another key point: Tokens that continue to surge are often new, quirky, and easily misunderstood, but they're backed by a strong community of believers. I'm someone who loves new and shiny things. Cultural significance often determines survival or extinction. Even seemingly absurd missions can sustain a community until adoption snowballs. Pudgy Penguins, Punks, and meme coins are all examples. Initially, traders held USDT or USDC to buy BTC and Altcoin. New capital inflows were a positive because they converted into spot buying. Back then, 80%-100% of stablecoin inflows went into crypto assets. Today, this is no longer the case. Stablecoin inflows are used for lending, payments, yield farming, treasury, and airdrop mining. Some of this capital never flows into BTC or ETH, but it still boosts the entire system: more L1/L2 trading, deeper DEX liquidity, higher lending income, and a more robust capital market. An emerging trend is payment-first L1s. Tempo, built by Stripe and Paradigm, is designed for high-throughput stablecoin payments, with built-in EVM tools and a native stablecoin AMM. Plasma Tether-powered L1s are positioned as dedicated USDT chains, with new types of banks and payment cards, serving emerging markets. These chains are pushing stablecoins toward the real economy, not just transactions. [Original text in English]
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