This article comes from BANKLESS PUBLISHING , the original author: ETH, compiled by Odaily Planet Daily translator Katie Gu.
There are always fresh trends in the crypto world, and it is not easy to catch the current narrative. Especially in the current market situation, so I interviewed 8 of my favorite Crypto Twitter influencers and asked the following 5 questions.
Three trends for 2023.
Favorite trends and why.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
Web3 Q&A session
Remember, this is not financial advice, DYOR.
rektdiomedes
Three Trends for 2023
LSD (Liquidity Collateralized Derivatives), Gamble Fi and Synthetics.
Favorite Trends and Why
My favorite is probably synthetic assets, as I'm a macro/TradFi junkie and I'm a big fan of macro and DeFi's emerging synthetic assets.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
I am very bullish on Frax Finance because I think Stablecoin are the main "sticky use case" for DeFi, and no matter where the entire crypto space goes, I believe that the founder of Frax Finance, Sam Kazemian, and his staff are very capable of creating great value.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
I don't know what to say, I'm surprised we haven't found out who Satoshi Nakamoto really is. It's really an almost mythical origin story for crypto.
Web3 Q&A session
Question: With the young generation taking over the voice, what else can stop cryptocurrencies from landing?
Answer: None.
Crypto Ita
Three Trends for 2023
L2, specifically Ethereum zkEVM L2. We can already feel projects like zkSync, Polygon zkEvm, and Starknet gaining a lot of attention and TVL. Among them, zkSync is undoubtedly a better choice at present, and there are also factors of AirDrop hunters. There are a lot of L2 projects ready to launch in the testnet, such as Taiko, Linea, and Base (this will definitely be a chain to watch thanks to Coinbase support).
Better governance: The governance of DeFi is not perfect now, and situations like the Arbitrum AIP-1 proposal controversy are not uncommon. I think we'll slowly evolve and change governance, exploring new ways of voting. Governance will never be perfect, but we can keep improving.
I'm not sure what the last trend for 2023 is, but for sure, I'm pretty bullish on DeFi in general, with killer apps like DEX or perpetual contracts, or even some options brokers.
Favorite Trends and Why
I'm a software engineer, so I prefer the technical aspects of Crypto to the speculative aspects. L2 is the newest technology out there, and I love looking into their unique approach to scaling Ethereum. ZK is also pretty cool, and I'm interested in how the project uses this technology in real life.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
Because Ethereum is the biggest project besides Bitcoin. So L2 extending the same narrative as Ethereum is sure to gain traction (or at least they have a better narrative for some random L1). Ethereum has huge potential and will still be around three years from now.
One day in the currency circle, ten years in the world. But if DeFi wants to exist in three years, it definitely needs the following 5 components:
DEX: Uniswap definitely exists because it is a leading project;
Lending: AAVE, Compound, etc.;
Sustainable DEX: GMX, Gains Network;
Options: (I don't know much about options, but I do know the decentralized options protocol Dopex);
NFTs: People love and hate NFTs, but one thing is for sure, NFTs are still around three years later.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
If I were Satoshi, I would never "show up" in public, keeping a mystery like the real Satoshi. The biggest advantage of Bitcoin is that the creator Satoshi Nakamoto is now gone and no one knows who he or she is.
Satoshi Nakamoto's "unsolved mysteries" may not seem that important, but in fact, no one "stands" for Bitcoin, there is no Bitcoin Foundation, there is no creator or person to attack, and this is what Bitcoin is. "Killer".
Web3 Q&A session
Q: Why do we need DeFi?
Answer: DeFi is decentralized finance, which provides services for all unbanked people. But if you've studied DeFi, you know it's not really decentralized (at least not yet). I like the term "on-chain finance OFI", but DeFi is definitely more suitable for mass adoption. There are Stablecoin issued by centralized companies (Circle and USDC), centralized Cross-chain bridges, centralized oracle machines, and centralized large exchanges. Furthermore, within a DeFi protocol, developers and teams have internal advantages.
So I think DeFi is cool because it allows us to experiment with new ideas, new paradigms, and new projects that would not have been allowed or easily launched in traditional markets. I think DeFi is more like an extension of our current financial system than something that replaces traditional finance.
The DeFi Investor
Three Trends for 2023
LSD (Liquidity Staking Derivatives), Perpetual DEX, and the rise of Ethereum L2.
Favorite Trends and Why
My favorite trend is the rise of Ethereum L2, because I believe that the best implementation scenario of L2 is yet to come, and it is very exciting to see the vision of Ethereum scaling through Rollup becoming a reality.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
One project that I am very bullish on in the long run is EigenLayer. I believe the idea of an ETH re-staking solution is awesome, and if the team can deliver everything on the Whitepaper, I believe this project will still be a "potential stock" 3 years from now, even though EigenLayer is currently in the early stages of development.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
I would tell them that it is important not to forget that decentralization and permissionless access are the main ethos of cryptocurrencies.
Web3 Q&A session
Q: What do we need to do to attract the next billion cryptocurrency users?
A: Greater focus on creating user-friendly interfaces and all-in-one Dapp for all of DeFi will greatly accelerate the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Edgy — The DeFi Edge
Three Trends for 2023
ZK- Battle of Rollup , NFT Financialization, Decentralized Stablecoin.
Favorite Trends and Why
I think it's a decentralized Stablecoin. Stablecoin are not sexy, nor do they have any 100-fold gameplay. Governments are trying to kill cryptocurrencies. Our reliance on USDC and other centralized Stablecoin is a point of failure. I am bullish on Curve's crvUSD, AAVE 's GHO and Redacted Cartel's indinero.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
Three years is a long time. Ethereum is a boring answer. I like Frax. They are very good at strategy and have already proven their potential to land.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
Don't lose sight of the original vision of cryptocurrencies - Crypto is a tool to protect our "freedom".
Web3 Q&A session
Q: What do you think happens after death?
A: There will be no changes. Just like before we were born. Our thoughts and memories cease to exist. But we still exist in the universe through atoms. Hoping for a reincarnation as I would love to go on this "Crypto adventure" again.
Louround
Three Trends for 2023
Greater adoption of DeFi platforms and overall decentralization: As more and more people realize the benefits of DeFi in terms of transparency, security, and accessibility, the adoption of DeFi platforms will continue to grow. The recent collapse of centralized entities (FTX, Celsius, 3AC) clearly demonstrates the need for decentralization and self-regulation. This is also reflected in the DEX metrics, which only rose after these crashes.
Ethereum Scaling Solutions: It’s no surprise that this narrative will persist for a long time, ETH is by far the chain with the highest TVL but faces scalability issues. The "war" for the best scaling solution has been started by Optimistic's Rollup , which now face their own limitations, which will be solved by zkEVM solutions such as zkSync, Starknet, Polygon zkEVM, and Scroll.
Copy trading: This is an interesting narrative that is not mentioned on Crypto Twitter, but it can help millions of users enter the market. As everyday users of DeFi and other chains, we don't understand how much of a barrier to adoption there is for someone who wants to simply buy some tokens on L2. If successful traders/investors' trading practices could be replicated across multiple chains with just a few mouse clicks, it would be a Web3 game changer, attracting retail and possibly institutional Liquidity in the market.
Favorite Trends and Why
I like all three of the trends mentioned above because they drive the industry forward and fit in with blockchain’s original vision of decentralization and financial empowerment. Many other narratives are often shared as well, but most do not provide any added value to the industry and do not persist in the long term.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
I think it's Ethereum because it has become a leading blockchain with an active developer community and a growing Dapp ecosystem. Scaling solutions also positions it well to continue growing and innovating over the next few years.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
If I were Satoshi Nakamoto, I would say that people should focus on guiding users "how to get in" and generate a positive perception of the industry. We see too many people chasing greed, creating hundreds of projects on top of the same narrative, but just coming up with a few new features.
I'm not Satoshi, I'm just suggesting to keep accumulating during bear markets so we can "get rich" in the next bull market.
Web3 Q&A session
Q: What's the easiest way to get from $10,000 to $1 million?
A: Just do 10 x 10 in a row. Just kidding, I'm not qualified enough to answer this question, so I leave this topic to my friends.
Minty
Three Trends for 2023
The three trends I think we will see in 2023 are: the expansion of ETH LSD under the Shanghai upgrade, more ways to realize Real World Assets (RWA) in the blockchain, and providing wireless access between blockchains. seamlessly integrated platform.
Favorite Trends and Why
My favorite trend is seeing the growth of NFTFi. NFT has a lot of untapped potential and it is the closest thing to mainstream culture and adoption.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
If I had to pick a project that I think is still around in 3 years, I'd probably pick Chainlink. Its infrastructure services are an integral part of the blockchain, and new technologies like CCIP (Cross-chain Interoperability Protocol) lead me to believe that it may still have potential for some time.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
I might remind people to make sure their funds are safe and follow best practices.
Web3 Q&A session
Q: What can I do today to prepare for tomorrow?
A: Have your own Web3 circle. In this field, it is difficult to achieve great things by relying on one's own ability. If you have smart friends to communicate with, it will be much easier. There is so much noise in Web3, so it really helps to have a group of people who can share information.
Ignas | DeFi Research
Three Trends for 2023
The growth of the modular blockchain narrative. Modularity is the way Ethereum scales on L2 with fast and cheap transaction execution. More importantly, these L2s act as a "hub" for different ecosystems, creating a more vibrant developer ecosystem than a single Ethereum chain.
With the upgrade of EIP-4844 (expected to be implemented in the second half of 2023), L2 gas fees will drop by 10-100 times, so the modular blockchain narrative will gain more traction.
Real World Assets (RWA). Borrowing demand on protocols like AAVE or Compound is largely dependent on leverage. But the RWA protocol provides under-collateralized loans outside of the circular crypto world.
RWA has grown DeFi loans from tens of billions of dollars to the $1.6 trillion TradFi private credit lending market. RWA is our way of positively impacting the physical world while bringing new monetization opportunities to DeFi.
Smart Accounts (account abstraction) are a powerful shift in the way we interact with Web3. My girlfriend recently bought cryptocurrency for the first time. As I gradually introduced her to the world of DeFi, I became more and more aware of the challenges newbies face: Seed Phrase, high gas fees, poor user experience, crypto jargon, etc.
Due to the EIP-4337 upgrade and the zkSync era enabling account abstraction at the protocol level, I expect the crypto user experience to improve a lot, which will bring a new wave of users.
Favorite Trends and Why
My favorite trend is smart accounts (account abstraction). I really hope more money goes to the teams that are working hard to make cryptocurrencies easy to use, which brings a billion users into the crypto world.
Couple that with RWA, and lower gas fees due to L2, and smart accounts, and we have the best chance of mass adoption ever.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
I think it's Ethereum and Bitcoin. The industry is so dynamic, nothing is certain. Ethereum is becoming the base layer of the digital ownership economy in Web3 and the best asset for passive income. Bitcoin is our best asset to hedge against and leave the current financial system.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
I encourage you to remember the original vision and values that inspired Bitcoin's creation: decentralization, financial sovereignty, privacy, and censorship resistance.
Cryptocurrencies seem to have two paths to follow: one is true decentralization, and the other is false decentralization. The recent USDC crash is a testament to the centralized nature of DeFi as the risk stems from TradFi banks.
It’s now clear to everyone that DeFi isn’t as decentralized as we pretend it is. At least DAO should stop playing the decentralization game, and should be realistic. We call it DeFi, but what we really mean should be "on-chain finance".
Web3 Q&A session
Q: What is the secret to success in cryptocurrency?
A: Don't blindly follow the latest trends. Take everything KOLs say with a grain of salt. Take a step back and think about it. Investing based on popular trends is bound to fail.
Run ahead of the narrative, don't follow it. You should also develop a strategy that aligns with your strengths:
Good at tracking on-chain transactions?
Passionate about networking?
Got a talent for creating memes?
Proficient in typing code?
Anything that sets you apart is an advantage. Don't get carried away by hot stuff. Of course, it's easy to be drawn to the latest fashion or tech gadget.
DeFI Saint
Three Trends for 2023
LSD, L2 (zkEVM) narrative and RWA.
Favorite Trends and Why
My favorite trend is L2, this is just the beginning, more L2 is still released on the mainnet, and there is no coin, many people speculate that there will be an AirDrop, and we will continue to see the redistribution of TVL inflow.
Projects that are believed to have great potential and will still exist three years from now
I think it's VELA. This is a Derivatives exchange for crypto assets, forex and market cap trading (coming soon). An innovative project from an experienced team, and many exciting features like stop tracking losses and more.
If you were Satoshi Nakamoto, what would you say to someone involved in cryptocurrency today?
We are still early. Mass adoption hasn’t happened yet, and those who leverage it now will be the winners in the future.
Web3 Q&A session
Q: Is DeFi ready for mass adoption?
A: Not yet, sometimes I think CeFi is safer until the security is at least 90% guaranteed. In DeFi, rugs and attack events look normal now.
