Foresight News takes you through this week’s hot topics and recommended content:
01Story went online and opened low but ended high
Story, wants to be the first blockchain company to serve OpenAI and DeepMind
02 Bitcoin Ecosystem
"How can GOAT Network become the breakthrough point to make Bitcoin no longer an "island of value"? "
Grayscale: Deconstructing the Bitcoin Mining Business Model and Sustainability
03Solana is stuck in a quagmire
《Confirmed! LIBRA and MELANIA have the same team, insider operations have reaped over $100 million》
"The president who helped "harvest" hundreds of millions of dollars has turned into a "silly and innocent"? "
Regarding the Argentine President’s coin issuance, I asked the Solana official community three questions in Hong Kong
"SOL tokens worth $2 billion are about to be unlocked. Can the current market bear it?"
04 Hong Kong Policy
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission releases "ASPI-Re" roadmap: planning the future of the virtual asset market
05 Project Observation
《A Quick Look at STEAMM: Sui Ecosystem’s Super Liquid AMM》
《Teach you how to use Monad step by step! Which native applications are worth interacting with?》
06 Industry Insights
"Which crypto companies are on Forbes' 2025 top 50 fintech companies?"
"a16z: How do crypto startups "self-recommend"? "
Qiao Wang: How AI will change startups forever
01Story went online and opened low but ended high
Story wants to be the first blockchain company to serve mainstream AI organizations such as DeepMind and OpenAI. Jason used a grand concept when sharing Story's ultimate goal. He hopes to create a new generation of Internet's basic protocol layer through blockchain, just like TCP/IP defines data transmission and HTTP supports web page interaction. The current Internet model is free, and Story hopes that the future Internet will become a "value Internet" that allows creators to register, manage and protect their intellectual property (IP) on the blockchain to ensure that their works are not used or misappropriated without authorization. Recommended reading:
Story, wants to be the first blockchain company to serve OpenAI and DeepMind
Why did Stability AI choose to work with Story instead of other crypto projects? Because most other projects only operate in a closed loop within the crypto circle, while Story is the only project that can prove its practical value to traditional AI giants. Web2 companies like Stability AI and OpenAI don’t care about the concept of "decentralization" unless blockchain can solve their core pain points. The IP rights confirmation and data compliance solutions provided by Story are exactly what they urgently need. This is the value we have verified in the real business world.
But I think what Story is doing is the only project that has proven that it actually has demand from large AI companies. It's like an open space. None of these companies want to use blockchain unless it's really useful to them outside of decentralization. I think this is actual proof that what Story is doing is very valuable even for two AI companies.
02 Bitcoin Ecosystem
Bitcoin has always dominated the current market, but the inherent limitations of its technical architecture have led to significant obstacles to its deep integration with the blockchain ecosystem. As the crypto asset with the highest market value, the Bitcoin network is limited by low transaction throughput, Turing's incomplete scripting system, and the lack of a standardized interoperability protocol. These factors have jointly restricted its application expansion in the fields of DeFi and complex smart contracts. Recommended reading:
" How can GOAT Network become the breakthrough point to make Bitcoin no longer an "island of value"? "
The core advantages of GOAT Network lie in its security, programmability and decentralization. Through GOAT-OCP and BitVM2, GOAT Network implements the 1-of-n honesty assumption, which is like designing an automatic defense system for the island to ensure the security of transaction verification. At the same time, the Decentralized Sequencer improves the activity and self-healing of the network, avoiding the single point failure risk of the centralized Sequencer, just like equipping the island with multiple patrol teams to ensure that every corner can be guarded.
As Bitcoin Layer2 competition tends to land in the ecosystem, GOAT Network has built an economic flywheel with multi-asset value capture as the core: the original Multi-Coin PoS mechanism reshapes token economics through mathematical games, allowing BTC/DOGE and other holders to become network consensus maintainers through staking, while ensuring system security and converting original assets into productive capital. This "asset is computing power" design enables pledgers to obtain double benefits (BTC+GOAT), and through the dynamic adjustment of on-chain verification rewards, a positive feedback loop of user growth and ecological value is achieved - this is also the key to GOAT Network's breakthrough of the cold start dilemma and the establishment of a decentralized governance moat.
Bitcoin is a decentralized network of computers that stores $2 trillion in value. This modern wonder is made possible by mining: network participants compete for the right to add the next block to the blockchain and receive a reward. Today, Bitcoin mining operates at an astonishing scale, converting real energy into digital security. The computing power used to protect the Bitcoin blockchain acts as a digital "vault door," enabling an autonomous network of computers to become a global digital currency system. The expertise, capital expenditures, and ongoing operating expenses required to operate a Bitcoin mining facility, as well as the highly competitive nature of the industry, help maintain the decentralization of the Bitcoin network while making attacks prohibitively expensive. Recommended reading:
Grayscale: Deconstructing the Bitcoin Mining Business Model and Sustainability
Attacking Bitcoin means defeating the existing Bitcoin mining industry. In theory, if a malicious actor controls 51% of the network's hash rate and is able to mine a majority of blocks, they can disrupt the network (for example, double-spending Bitcoin or censoring certain transactions). In a paper, researchers estimated that as of February 2024, a 51% attack on the Bitcoin network lasting one hour would cost between $5 billion and $20 billion. In reality, no actor has an economic incentive to invest these resources, and the Bitcoin network has other defense mechanisms besides mining.
Based on data from Coin Metrics, we estimate that the Bitcoin network has consumed about 175 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity over the past 12 months. This is comparable to estimates from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (see Figure 7). Based on data from 2023 (the latest available year), Bitcoin’s energy consumption accounts for 0.2% of total global electricity consumption (taking into account power losses during transmission). According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, data centers consume about 200 TWh of electricity per year, and it is expected that energy consumption by data centers may rise due to the use of artificial intelligence models.
03Solana is stuck in a quagmire
Recently, the crypto community has been in a heated discussion about "insider manipulation" around the LIBRA token briefly endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei and the MELANIA token associated with US First Lady Melania Trump. Blockchain data analysis company Bubblemaps, through cross-chain transfer records and time pattern analysis, revealed for the first time with on-chain evidence that the behind-the-scenes teams of these two projects are actually the same group of people, and have made profits of more than $100 million through "sniper transactions" and liquidity withdrawal. Recommended reading:
《 Confirmed! LIBRA and MELANIA have the same team, insider operations have reaped over $100 million 》
On January 30, 2025, Argentine President Milley met with the project's technical advisor Hayden Davis and promoted the Libra token on social media, sparking market frenzy. However, within hours of the token's launch, the project withdrew $87 million of USDC and SOL from the liquidity pool, causing the price to plummet by more than 80%. Milley subsequently deleted the tweet and launched an anti-corruption investigation, but it had already caused huge losses to investors.
The Libra and Melania token incidents revealed the darkest side of the crypto market: the triple trap of celebrity halo + insider manipulation + liquidity fraud. Bubblemaps' on-chain analysis not only provides evidence for victims to hold accountable, but also serves as a wake-up call for the community:
Be wary of “politically endorsed” tokens: celebrity endorsements are often short-term hype signals rather than value support.
Strengthen on-chain detection capabilities: Ordinary investors can use tools to track large wallets and fund flows and identify suspicious patterns.
Promote industry self-discipline: Project parties need to disclose token distribution and liquidity management plans to reduce information black boxes.
This farce may be just the tip of the iceberg, but only transparency and accountability can clear the obstacles for the long-term development of the crypto ecosystem.
Mile's "delete tweet - forward" operation turned LIBRA into a tool for manipulation. After deleting the tweet on February 15, he argued that "I just shared information and did not participate in the project", but the forwarding behavior on the night of the 17th stimulated market speculation again, and was suspected of "manipulating emotions to cover the team's shipments". Facing public pressure, Mile insisted in a TV interview on the 17th: "Most of the losers are Chinese and American investors, and Argentines have hardly suffered any losses... I am not wrong, I just need to be more cautious in selecting projects." Recommended reading:
On February 17, the Argentine opposition Civic Alliance (ARI) formally submitted an impeachment motion to Congress, accusing Mile of "abusing his power to endorse private projects" and demanding an investigation into whether he received benefits from KIP Protocol. On the same day, an Argentine law firm filed a criminal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), accusing the LIBRA team of suspected transnational securities fraud and demanding an investigation into Mile's role. The American community also fought back: Previously, members of the Solayer team publicly stated that they had lost more than $2 million due to LIBRA, and threatened to take "hacking actions" against KIP Protocol members; other investors were preparing to initiate a class action lawsuit, accusing the project party of using the president's influence to "pull up shipments."
Milley's presidential approval rating remains at 47% due to easing inflation, but his "erratic" personality is fueling public doubts. It remains to be seen whether his presidency is secure and whether he can escape unscathed from the crypto controversy.
Recently, the LIBRA token promoted by Argentine President Mile has sparked a market frenzy. However, within hours of the token's launch, the project withdrew $87 million of USDC and SOL from the liquidity pool, causing the price to plummet by more than 80%. Mile subsequently deleted the tweet and launched an anti-corruption investigation, but it has caused huge losses to investors. At this critical juncture, the narrative of the meme market seems to be fading. As a public chain that has experienced ups and downs, how will the ecosystem builders of Solana express their views on this incident? Foresight News interviewed a number of outstanding ecosystem builders at the Solana Hongkong Summit to analyze the impact of this incident. Recommended reading:
Alex, a member of the Solar community, also said frankly, "MEME is a bit too much now. I think the Libra incident is a clearance of meme risks. I think (clearing) is good in the long run, because it has gone too far, and this bubble will burst eventually."
As an important part of the on-chain economy, another Solar community member Han positively affirmed the role of MEME: "First, for Meme, as a traffic entrance, it can actually attract a lot of incremental users, or speculative users. For example, some previous AI memecoins actually had some enthusiasm and interest, which could promote the development of the industry. But from TRUMP to LIBRA, it has already shown a double-edged sword effect."
Obviously, the token issuance of multiple Solana projects in recent months has fueled the enthusiasm of the community, and Vesper, head of the Solar community, also told Foresight News : "(The LIBRA incident) has both good and bad sides. The good thing is that it shows that Solana is eye-catching enough in the world to attract the attention of these politicians. For example, like Trump and Argentina's Mile, it shows that Solana's influence is now more international. The second is that when it is big enough, there will be a lot of positive or negative things, and it will be more decentralized. Because now Solana is also weakening the concept of the foundation, hoping that the DApps above and the tokens issued can be issued by everyone as they wish, and as little intervention as possible. And I also hope that everyone can be more discerning when they are rushing to on-chain meme, that is, DYOR."
On March 1, 11.2 million SOL from the FTX bankruptcy auction will be unlocked, worth $2.06 billion. The number of unlocked tokens accounts for about 2.29% of the current SOL circulation supply. Such a huge selling pressure coupled with the sluggish market conditions has caused the SOL price to be quite sluggish. Since January this year, after Trump's TRUMP concept coin triggered a market frenzy, SOL once hit its all-time high of $295, and then fell all the way. The weekly line has fallen for four years, with the lowest reaching around $160. Is it Solana's turn to be FUD? Recommended reading:
" SOL tokens worth $2 billion are about to be unlocked. Can the current market bear it? "
The 11.2 million SOL unlocked this time are part of the previous auction. The main institutions involved in the purchase include Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital and Figure. Among them, in 2024, Galaxy purchased 25.52 million SOL at $64 per coin, Pantera and others purchased 13.67 million at $95, and Figure and others purchased 1.8 million at $102. These institutions bought at a price far below the market price at the time, and even if the SOL price fell to around $170, the book profit was still considerable.
The 11.2 million SOL unlocked this time are part of the previous auction. The main institutions involved in the purchase include Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital and Figure. Among them, in 2024, Galaxy purchased 25.52 million SOL at $64 per coin, Pantera and others purchased 13.67 million at $95, and Figure and others purchased 1.8 million at $102. These institutions bought at a price far below the market price at the time, and even if the SOL price fell to around $170, the book profit was still considerable.
04 Hong Kong Policy
The complex and ever-changing market landscape urgently needs balanced and comprehensive supervision: As of 2024, the global virtual asset market value has exceeded the 3 trillion US dollar mark, which has had a profound impact on the modern financial system, creating unlimited opportunities and bringing many challenges. Virtual assets have not only greatly promoted the pace of cross-border interconnection and innovation, but also caused a series of complex problems such as regulatory fragmentation, imbalanced liquidity distribution, and risks brought by concentrated holdings and speculative behavior. In this context, it is particularly important to build a balanced regulatory mechanism that can both promote market growth and effectively mitigate systemic risks. Recommended reading:
The market exhibits a dual participation pattern. In the case of Bitcoin, this duality is particularly evident: it is estimated that the top 2% of wallets hold about 95% of the Bitcoin supply, while institutional participants (including hedge funds, asset managers, and enterprises) control more than 8% of Bitcoin holdings, driving liquidity for flagship products such as Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs). The growing influence of institutions not only reflects the maturity of the industry, but also reveals the concentration of market participation. This concentration has raised concerns about market manipulation by "whale" and systemic fragility.
Compliance in traditional finance provides a blueprint for virtual assets. Established traditional financial concepts such as know-your-customer (KYC) checks, suitability assessments, and risk-based capital requirements provide a proven framework to mitigate risks in virtual asset markets. Institutional-grade custody solutions inspired by traditional financial custody safeguards are addressing the issue of asset security in virtual asset exchanges. Similarly, integrating traditional finance-style disclosure standards into virtual asset products (e.g., exchange-traded products, tokenized real-world assets) can increase transparency and enable investors to assess risks similar to traditional securities. Regulators are increasingly requiring these safeguards, such as Hong Kong’s requirement that virtual asset trading platforms segregate customer assets and conduct independent audits.
05 Project Observation
In the traditional DeFi field, liquidity providers (LPs) often face a pain point: a large amount of liquidity in the AMM protocol is forced to be idle due to mechanism design, resulting in low capital efficiency. With the launch of STEAMM, the first "super liquidity AMM" in the Sui ecosystem, this dilemma may become history on the Sui chain. The protocol creates double benefits for LPs through improved mechanisms, and provides customized liquidity solutions for different assets with a modular architecture, becoming a key puzzle piece in the Sui DeFi ecosystem. Recommended reading:
《 A quick look at STEAMM: Sui Ecosystem’s super-liquid AMM 》
The liquidity pool of traditional AMM often wastes capital potential due to passive waiting for transactions, but STEAMM's "Superfluid" mechanism breaks this deadlock. The protocol will automatically and seamlessly connect idle funds to the lending protocol Suilend (in fact, STEAMM is incubated by the Suilend protocol, which is equivalent to a project sub-protocol. Suilend is currently the protocol with the highest TVL on Sui), allowing LPs to earn both transaction fees and loan interest. This dynamic allocation not only ensures the instant liquidity of the trading pool, but also increases the utilization rate of funds. STEAMM's high trading volume/TVL ratio mechanism can significantly compress the quote spread, making transaction costs lower and LPs more profitable.
The launch of STEAMM completes the key modules of DeFi Lego on Sui Chain. By eliminating the opportunity cost of traditional AMM and improving capital efficiency, its "double income" model may attract more liquidity. The scalability of the modular architecture also lays the groundwork for supporting more complex derivative assets in the future. With the operation of the beta version and the iteration of functions, whether the Sui ecosystem can achieve a DeFi breakthrough with the help of STEAMM is worth continued attention.
This week, the Monad testnet was officially launched. We published the "Gold Rush Manual: Tianwang Public Chain Monad Online Testnet, Quick Interaction Guide" as soon as the Monad testnet was launched, introducing the interaction process of Monad. Given the high difficulty of Monad test coin collection and the continued rise in ecological popularity, many users want to know more about the collection channels and ecological applications worthy of interaction and attention. This article will list them for you one by one. Recommended reading:
《 Teach you how to use Monad step by step! Which native applications are worth interacting with? 》
aPriori is a Monad-based MEV liquid staking platform. In July 2024, it announced the completion of an $8 million seed round of financing, led by Pantera. Previously, aPriori completed a Pre-Seed round of financing led by Hashed and Arrington Capital, with a total financing amount of $10 million. Other investors include Consensys, OKX Ventures, Manifold Trading, etc. Apriori is currently online on the Monad testnet.
Dusted is a Monad-based application that focuses on creating communities around tokenized assets, where users holding specific tokens can join and participate in dedicated chat groups. The reward system includes MON, Dusted points, and Monad ecosystem project whitelist.
06 Industry Insights
Trump’s pro-crypto stance was clear early on, as evidenced by key appointments and decrees: venture capitalist David Sacks was named AI and cryptocurrency czar, Scott Bessent took over the Treasury Department, and former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins was nominated to lead the regulator. Trump also signed an executive order titled “Strengthening America’s Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” which included measures such as requiring an assessment of the “National Digital Asset Reserve.” In this environment, companies such as Figure, Securitize, and Fireblocks have flourished, following some of the most prominent trends in the industry. Recommended reading:
" Which crypto companies are on Forbes' 2025 top 50 fintech companies? "
Figure, co-founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, uses technology to speed up the application process for home equity lines of credit. It also has a custom blockchain platform that tokenizes (i.e., securitizes) home equity lines of credit and sells them to yield-hungry investors through its own private credit marketplace. In 2024, Figure's revenue grew more than 50% from $196 million in 2023 to $321 million, with a gross margin of 55%. Of its 150,000 customers, about 70% come from more than 200 fintech and mortgage banking partners, including real estate platforms such as RATE (formerly Guaranteed Rate) and Credit Karma. In April 2024, former Brex executive Michael Tannenbaum became CEO and Cagney became executive chairman.
Fireblocks' software helps investors and institutions such as Worldpay, Revolut, BNP Paribas and Bank of New York Mellon hold cryptocurrencies safely. Despite revenue of $1.24 million in 2024, the company has not yet achieved profitability and is currently investing heavily in new projects to support crypto asset activities of various entities from banks to startups. Important products launched in the past year include a New York State-regulated limited purpose trust company designed to provide customers with bank-level custody services and an artificial intelligence tool to help customers respond to market changes more flexibly in their trading activities.
There are already a lot of resources out there about building a brand and crafting a mission statement that captures your team’s values. But putting these elements together can be challenging. So in this post, we’ll focus on how to align and differentiate your mission statement from your benefit statement, and how to perfect your elevator pitch for partnerships, sales enablement, fundraising, and more. We’ll also share the essentials founders need before bringing a product to market. Recommended reading:
" a16z: How do crypto startups "recommend themselves"? "
For example, Coinbase’s mission has long been to “advance economic freedom.” Over the years, Coinbase has gradually launched centralized exchanges, wallets, NFT markets, second-layer networks, and more. If the focus is on any single project, the overall principle of this mission statement may be lost in the communication process. However, it is macro enough to enable the team to focus on this principle and then incorporate it into decisions about cultural values and product investments, even though the Base project seems to go beyond the scope of its core centralized exchange business.
For example, the company Towns (a way to build hometown communities on the internet) quickly established a different way of thinking about social networking, one that de-emphasized large global groups in favor of creating intimate, curated, and more local gathering spaces.
When I first used ChatGPT as an assistant, I had a hunch that AI would change the startup landscape forever. I’m even more convinced now. The cost of writing software is going to zero. But that’s not all. The cost of marketing, sales, customer service, operations, and other business functions will also be greatly reduced. This is already happening in large companies. Startups before finding product-market fit (PMF) are less affected because founders must personally handle user acquisition and support to be close to customers. But startups after finding product-market fit have begun to use AI to achieve faster scale development. Recommended reading:
" Qiao Wang: How AI will change startups forever? "
The cost of writing software is going to zero. But that’s not all. The cost of marketing, sales, customer service, operations, and other business functions will also be greatly reduced. This is already happening in large companies. Startups before product-market fit (PMF) are less affected because founders must personally handle user acquisition and support to be close to customers. But startups after product-market fit have begun to use AI to achieve faster scale.
The corollary is obvious. Startups no longer need a lot of money and a lot of people to grow. I expect to see more unicorns created by a few co-founders with $500,000. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more and more startups that have achieved 7-, 8-, and even 9-figure annual revenues after raising a small pre-seed round from us and a few angel investors. Today, some of these companies have less than 10 employees and will never need to raise money again.
