If you persevere and find your strengths, you will be rewarded.
Article author: 0xJeff
Article source: TechFlow TechFlow
2025 was filled with unprecedented turmoil and change. We welcomed a US president who was said to support cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence. However, instead of the expected bull market, 2025 became a year of "massacre" for the entire industry.
- Most Altcoin experienced a crash of 80%-99% in 2025.
- Bitcoin's market capitalization share has returned to the levels of 2019-2020 (over 60%), outperforming most cryptocurrencies.
- Ethereum (ETH) is trading at prices similar to those in 2022.
- The Altcoin market is highly fragmented (there are 40 to 50 million different coins on the market).
- Despite a constant stream of positive news within the industry (such as a clearer regulatory framework, ETF approvals, corporate adoption of blockchain technology, and institutional investment in BTC, ETH, and Altcoin), the stock market's performance in 2025 completely overwhelmed the crypto market.
Despite the pain and turmoil, 2025 is still seen by many as the "year of maturity" for the industry, but it also witnessed the departure of a large number of practitioners and investors.
So, for those who remain committed to the crypto space, here are the key things you need to know before 2026 arrives:
Let's explore this further ↓
Prediction Markets: A Multifunctional Trading Tool
Prediction markets are projected to become one of the fastest-growing verticals by 2025—with weekly nominal trading volume reaching $3.8 billion for the first time, and Polymarket, Kalshi, and Opinion emerging as the dominant platforms in the field.
Despite the ongoing debate about whether prediction markets are equivalent to gambling, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) classifies them as event contracts or binary options based on the outcomes of real-world events. The CFTC's innovation-friendly stance, coupled with increasing market demand for betting/predictions, has driven rapid growth in prediction market trading volume in 2025.
From a trading instrument perspective, prediction markets demonstrate great flexibility. They can be viewed as a more user-friendly options instrument (but still lacking in liquidity).
You can use leveraged trading in any market, choosing "yes/no" directional bets as a hedging tool (by holding spot positions elsewhere), or to earn profits and potential airdrop rewards by executing a delta-neutral strategy (equally distributing "yes/no" shares in the market).
Cash-backed put options and covered call options
These two option strategies are ideal for investors who want to manage their investments in a more conservative way.
Instead of buying or quickly selling Altcoin when prices fall, it's better to generate cash flow by selling call or put options. If the price reaches a certain target, you can choose to buy or sell your Altcoin at a lower price; if the price doesn't reach the target, you will recover your principal.
This strategy is one of the best ways to generate a high annualized yield (APR) for your Altcoin or stablecoins.
The only thing to note is that your principal will be locked up for a period of time (usually 3-5 weeks), but you will immediately receive the option premium when you sell call or put options.
Narrative fatigue + Equity vs. Token = Return to Fundamentals
The pace of market narrative shifts has accelerated significantly; what used to be a hot topic that lasted for weeks or even months can now only last for a few days at most.
The crypto community (CT) is shifting from chasing narratives to focusing on real fundamentals (such as user numbers, revenue, and growth metrics). The market is increasingly evaluating metrics of the actual business and clarifying the value transfer relationship between the business and the token.
However, this year has seen too much chaos in the battle between equity and tokens, especially in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) space:
- Pumpfun acquired Padre (a trading instrument) without informing Padre token holders. Following the acquisition announcement, PADRE tokens plummeted by 50%-80%, triggering a strong backlash from the community. To quell the Padre community's discontent, Pumpfun promised to airdrop PUMP tokens based on the pre-acquisition PADRE holding value.
- Circle acquired Axelar, but similarly ignored Axelar token holders. Following the acquisition, the AXL token plummeted. This is recent news, and what will happen next is unknown, but the community is already furious (which is understandable).
The debate between equity and token holders is intensifying, leading us to a deeper issue...
Market governance organizations and ownership tokens
MetaDAO has launched a fair, transparent, and manipulable ICO launch platform, characterized by high liquidity, a relatively low fully diluted valuation (FDV) structure, and no venture capital (VC) or private placement allocations. Furthermore, it introduces mechanisms such as performance-based team unlocking and potential fund recovery features.
This structure gives token holders true ownership, control, and alignment of interests, effectively solving problems such as project teams running away with the money, token dumping, opaque operations, and improper acquisitions.
Colosseum (an independent organization accelerating the Solana ecosystem) recently launched "STAMP" (Simple Token Protocol, Market Protection Mechanism), a brand-new investment contract designed to integrate private venture capital financing with the public MetaDAO ICO, ensuring investor rights and aligning with MetaDAO's on-chain governance.
The MetaDAO model has spawned a new category of "ownership tokens," which are projects launched via MetaDAO ICOs. Many of the launched projects have performed strongly—such as Umbra, Omnipair, and Avici—with strong demand during their fundraising periods, and their tokens significantly outperformed the market in 2025.
Through the MetaDAO model, the importance of token holders has been enhanced; they have gained real say and effectively own the project. Project revenue and fees are no longer channeled to equity holders but directly benefit token holders.
The trend of market governance organizations and ownership tokens is likely to continue into 2026 and will intertwine with subsequent trends...
The Rise of Security Tokenization
With on-chain liquidity constrained, market participants are increasingly focusing on fundamentals, revenue, buybacks, and other intrinsic value. Meanwhile, businesses are adopting stablecoins, more institutions are investing capital in the crypto space, and recently, tokenized securities have become simpler and more feasible than ever before, especially for regulated institutions.
On December 11, 2025, a significant regulatory breakthrough occurred in the field of security tokenization. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a No-Action Letter, explicitly stating that it would not take enforcement action against the security tokenization pilot program of DTC, a subsidiary of DTCC (American Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation). The pilot program included the tokenization of Russell 1000 index constituents, U.S. Treasury bonds, and major ETFs.
During the pilot phase (starting in the second half of 2026 for three years), this mechanism will enable compliant centralized tokenization through DTC, directing activity to regulated infrastructure rather than a fully decentralized alternative.
This means that starting in 2026, we will see more security tokenization projects, which also means that the demand for tokenized stocks will increase, accelerating the integration between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Consumer-grade crypto products and perpetual contracts become the core of crypto.
In 2025, consumer-grade crypto products and perpetual contracts (Perps) will become the core hot topics in the crypto industry:
- Pumpfun will reach its peak in 2024-2025.
- Virtuals adopts a similar model, but incorporates a completely new AI-powered intelligent agent narrative.
- Zora has also made similar attempts in the content token space, and has received support from Jesse.
- Collectibles, fantasy football, and prediction markets are expected to be very popular in 2025.
These are all consumer-oriented products that allow crypto-natives to have fun while also attracting non-crypto users (such as participants in prediction markets) to earn rewards while having fun.
Cryptography is like a game, and trading is a form of entertainment. Therefore, innovative consumer products that effectively combine both often stand out.
Perpetual contracts (Perps) have a similar appeal because they allow users to make precise bets on the rise and fall of asset prices.
If you look at the key metrics for prediction markets and perpetual contracts, you'll find that they both reached all-time highs (ATH) in 2025. These figures seem to be screaming that the product-market fit (PMF) in the crypto space has emerged: prediction markets saw a weekly nominal trading volume of $3.8 billion, while perpetual contracts saw a staggering $340 billion in weekly trading volume (a record $1.3 trillion in monthly trading volume).
This is why people are so enthusiastic about participating in platforms like Hyperliquid, Lighter, Aster, Polymarket, and Opinion. Huge activity, huge demand, and massive capital flows directly translate into higher valuations and greater airdrop profits.
Consumer-grade crypto products also hold great potential, but we haven't seen truly sustainable ones by 2025. Sportsdotfun (SDF) has shown good early-stage growth momentum and is currently raising community funding on Legion and Kraken. While the future of this space remains uncertain, the prospects are currently exciting.
From this, we can learn that if you want to find your niche in this market, you either need to invest in platforms (such as prediction markets, perpetual contracts, and consumer crypto products) or actively participate in these categories:
- Learn how to trade perpetual contracts
- Making predictions in prediction markets
- Use consumer-grade encryption products
Through these practices, you can better understand the market and find your own competitive advantage. Otherwise...
You can become a "narrator"
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Silicon Valley, and tech professionals are now embracing the role of "storyteller." Many startups have opened job postings for "storyteller" positions.
In the crypto space, this is actually a common phenomenon. We have "Yappers," key opinion leaders (KOLs), and storytellers who have been discussing projects and helping to build the crypto community for years (even before Kaito coined the term "Yappers").
But now, it seems the whole world is beginning to realize the importance of having the right narrative and communicating the brand, product, and positioning in the right way.
However, the role of the narrator goes far beyond being a "chatterbox." Currently in the crypto space, many "chatterboxes" are simply copying and pasting content to "make their presence known," rather than trying to truly learn and understand what they are discussing.
This provides an opportunity for those who truly understand the industry, possess expertise, or are simply curious to learn to stand out—whether in the crypto community (CT) or the wider field.
Those who excel at storytelling can ultimately gain the freedom to choose by expanding their brand influence: they can choose to develop independently or be "acqui-hire" by startups and projects that align with their brand.
In 2025, we already saw successful examples of this dynamic. For instance, Kalshi recruited prominent figures from the crypto community, while some crypto projects successfully shaped their brand image and attracted more users through close partnerships and ambassador programs such as sharing badges.
If you are good at storytelling, then this era is your stage!
Core Summary
The crypto market in 2024-2025 is like playing a Monopoly game;
2026 will be more like a stage for corporations, startups, and suited financial professionals—with less of the Monopoly-style gameplay, fewer opportunities to make easy money, and fewer narratives that rely solely on "numerical growth."
Going forward, we will focus more on fundamentals, alignment of interests, value accumulation, and the leverage of compound interest. If you cannot cultivate a genuine competitive advantage, even if you are an OG (Original Gamer), you may ultimately become someone else's "bagholder."
Your competitive advantage can be any of the following:
- Have a clear mind and do not be blinded by delusions;
- Skilled at telling good stories;
- To create high-quality products that people truly need;
- Insight into trends;
- Trade rationally and don't let your emotions control you.
If you persevere and find your strengths, you will be rewarded.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed herein are not investment advice or recommendations. Readers who receive this article should conduct due diligence based on their own financial situation, investment objectives, and risk tolerance (not covered in this article) before investing. This article does not constitute an offer or invitation to buy or sell the assets mentioned herein.
