Author: Game, Crypto KOL

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

When the market is sluggish, it's a good time to make plans: carefully consider what will happen next, where the narrative is forming, and where liquidity will ultimately flow.

1. Reviving ETH Staking

ETH needs a lifeline, and staking is the only narrative that can save it.

Consistent with the current macroeconomic situation: yield is king, and investors want cash flow in a bleak environment.

$LDO and $RPL are obvious proxy plays, but due to the lack of a timeline, time is everything.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has pushed this narrative before and may do so again. With crypto-friendly management institutions, incentives will be rolled out.

No one wants to be exposed yet: uncertainty keeps people on the sidelines, but once the right fund managers or analysts start moving, it will develop quickly.

Further reading: In-depth Discussion on Ethereum's Issuance and Burning: A Dynamic Game of Cat and Mouse

2. Large Token ETFs (LTC, HBAR, and Betas)

$LTC, $HBAR, and $XRP are all in the ETF application process.

The most likely narrative for this is "buy on rumor, sell on news". Significant inflows are not expected, but proper positioning can still yield substantial returns.

If the news announcements come too quickly, liquidity will shift rapidly, and exiting will become tricky. The best case is staggered ETF approvals, so you can rotate appropriately.

Time your moves carefully, and don't be the last one holding.

Further reading: Altcoin ETFs Flock to Apply, Is a New Hype Wave Coming?

3. Buyback Clubs (Fee Switches and Buybacks)

MKR previously rallied 200% due to buybacks, and AAVE surged 30% within days of announcing a buyback.

• Hyperliquid → $600 million in annual buybacks
• Jupiter → $250 million in annual buybacks
• Ethena → Fee switch coming soon

Reduced supply, reduced selling pressure.

• Reflexivity (the circular relationship between cause and effect) starts to kick in: buybacks drive up prices → generate more fees → fund larger buybacks → the cycle continues.
• Highly narrative-driven: traders rushing to front-run the buybacks, only accelerating the entire cycle.

More protocols will follow suit: buybacks and fee switches are becoming the preferred strategy for price appreciation.

Trade on the news, don't trade in the middle of the curve, don't take profits too early, and study past price behavior.

Prioritize new/breaking news announcements over past ones. ($HYPE's buyback hype was great, but it's already played out, new catalysts are crucial.)

Further reading: Aave Joins the Dividend Army: Over $100 Million Cash Reserves Kick Off Buybacks, Potential DeFi Policy Tailwinds

4. RWA and Tokenization

The previous $ONDO has already launched. The new "game" will become the focus.

This narrative perfectly aligns with TradFi's interest in tokenization.

Current watch list:

• $PLUME: Mainnet launch will bring a new, powerful narrative
• $AERO: A project most people haven't noticed yet. If Base continues to build its own blockchain, considering its strong ecosystem associations and recent directional shift, this could be a "favorable" trading opportunity.
• $SYROP (formerly MPL): Added to the Coinbase roadmap, likely to list in the coming weeks.

More high-quality projects may emerge in the future. RWA is a category worth closely monitoring.

Further reading: In-depth Research Report on the RWA Track: The Path of Integration between Traditional Finance and the Crypto Market

5. Robotics and Potential AI 2.0 Trades

Figure AI (a company dedicated to developing autonomous humanoid robots) is at the forefront of the humanoid robot field. Tesla is also heavily pivoting towards automation, essentially its entire current bet.

The narrative is simple: increased productivity = cost savings for companies, which is attractive in an economic slowdown.

Risks are still high, but the meta is forming.

On-chain exposure is limited but will grow, currently mainly early-stage foundational projects.

The current opportunity is to look for virtual robot proxies. Similar situations have occurred before: the robots themselves may be completely useless, like all the junk robots, but the underlying infrastructure is the real trade. (No need to show the actual thing, as long as others are using it.)

If the price is cheap enough and you see an edge in your analysis, get in now, or closely monitor and react as needed.

Further reading: Explaining the Changing Trends of Emerging Agents: AI Companions and Robots May Have Huge Potential

6. Involvement of Other Sovereign States

Currently, crypto trading is entirely dependent on the decisions of the United States: policies, ETF flows, regulations.

If other T1/T2 countries get involved, it will break the US's dominance and trigger a new hoarding race.

This narrative is unpredictable, but once it happens, the market will change quickly.

Further reading: Major Shift in South Korea's Crypto Policy: Turning Towards Relaxation, Allowing Legal Entities to Open Crypto Accounts