Bull Market Script Activated?
At the end of the tunnel, the dawn breaks. After 6 months of turmoil, the crypto market is once again showing signs of vitality. Solana and Base are both performing well; even more exciting, we finally have something “new” like AI Meme.
Some predict that the price of Bitcoin may break through $100,000 in the coming months. The reasons for the bullish market are:
The US presidential election will take place in two weeks. Trump’s election would be a huge victory for cryptocurrencies.
On-chain indicators are bullish. TVL, trading volume, and active addresses of Base and Solana have been consistently increasing.
Stripe’s major acquisition of the stablecoin payment platform Bridge. Everyone has underestimated the long-term benefits of this to cryptocurrencies.
AI x Meme emerging in a new domain. It might be the “NFT” of this round of retail market.
Emotions are improving, and the nostalgic atmosphere is back.
Now is the time to overcome post-traumatic stress from the bear market. So many interesting things are happening, and I want to be at the forefront of the trend.
The market is filled with a mix of protocols and narratives, and it is not easy to differentiate signals from noise. Here are some things I am paying attention to in the coming months:
1. AI Agent x Memecoin: The Cult Revives
Memecoin has always been an important part of the cryptocurrency industry. Their working principle is simple, aimed at viral promotion. Since Memes are “static,” their popularity depends on the community.
But what if Meme could upgrade and evolve? What if Meme could self-promote? This is where AI agents come in.
Last week, GOAT (Goatseus Maximus) became the preferred AI agent speculation, with its market value skyrocketing from 0 to $800 million within a week.
What is GOAT? Truth Terminal is an autonomous chatbot that can manage its own Twitter account and generate content. It releases nonsense on technical philosophy, but it has a special affection for “GOATSE OF GNOSIS,” a pseudo-religion based on ancient internet memes.
An anonymous creator created GOAT and airdropped some tokens to the creator of Truth Terminal.
Subsequently, Truth Terminal began promoting GOAT vigorously on Twitter. Will AI launch “its own” Memecoin? It has good “Memecoin fundamentals”: high liquidity, fair distribution, and no team risks like VC or Memecoin “conspiracy groups.”
The momentum of the AI Meme market can continue for the following reasons:
Truth Terminal has over 100,000 followers and continues to grow. Each tweet from the account has tremendous influence. It tweets every hour, making it an unstoppable KOL.
Currently, no AI Meme is listed on the top CEX. The daily trading volume of GOAT is about $374 million, and it has certainly caught the attention of tier CEX. (Translator’s note: Binance has listed GOAT contract trading)
AI is continuously evolving, and it will continue to learn and grow.
AI Meme resides at the intersection of Crypto x AI x Religion: this is a new “cult.”
We have only scratched the surface of this new domain. How should you play it? The easiest way may be to go long on the leading GOAT. Relax, there are some potential explorers emerging, such as Fartcoin and Gnon.
It is important to note that there will be a lot of scams trying to take advantage of this wave. Their token distribution is far from as good as GOAT, and I’m sure many of these “AI agents” are actually humans playing AI role-playing games.
NFTs have attracted the attention of retail investors since 2021. AI Agent x Meme also has this potential, as evidenced by GOAT’s market capitalization reaching $1 billion.
Finally, please remember, these are Memecoins. The faster they rise, the faster they fall. Therefore, make sure your profits are secure.
2. Solana: Riding the Wave of Memecoin and AI
“The first millionaires of the gold rush were not the gold diggers, but those who sold them shovels and pickaxes.” I love Ethereum, but ignoring the progress and adoption of Solana would be foolish.
Solana is currently riding a wave driven by Memecoin and AI. With the surge in Memecoin prices and trading volume, Solana is once again in the spotlight.
Solana is seizing the opportunity with Memecoin and AI tokens:
Well-known Memecoins such as SLOP, GNON, Shegen, and FART are gaining attention, while GOAT has become the leading AI token.
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Solana is creating an average of 96,010 tokens per day, with Pump.fun creating about 9,000 tokens per day, accounting for about 9.3% of the total.
In addition to Memecoin, Solana is also the home of some innovative DeFi protocols.
I want to highlight three protocols:
Jupiter. They are mainly known for exchanges and perpetual contracts. But they recently launched ApePro, a new trading platform designed specifically for Memecoin.
Kamino Finance. Kamino Lend, launched just a year ago, currently holds nearly 70% of the Solana market share, with a total locked value (TVL) of $1.65 billion.
Pump.fun. Solana’s Memecoin factory, which may airdrop in the future. Their new internal trading tool is called Pump Advanced. They also launched a video tokenization platform, allowing users to tokenize videos, making them tradable assets on the platform.
As Solana continues to innovate and attract different projects, it has become a strong competitor to Ethereum. The combination of Memecoin and AI tokens not only diversifies its products but also increases community participation, making Solana the choice for new retail audiences.
3. AI Tokens
While Memecoin + AI is currently capturing everyone’s attention, we should not overlook Crypto AI tokens.
Bittensor (TAO) is the leader in this field.
Bittensor is the infrastructure of the Crypto AI field, focusing on AI practical applications:
Opentensor FDN recently launched an Ethereum-compatible layer, bridging the $300 billion Ethereum ecosystem.
Real-world adoption: Three major DeFi protocols have been built on Bittensor’s machine learning infrastructure.
Multiple sources of income: Transaction fees, staking, AI services, aiming for over $10 million per quarter.
Institutional support: Two major cryptocurrency VCs increased their positions in September.
User mindshare for AI x Meme narrative
Bittensor’s involvement is an interesting strategy that may be to hold: GOAT (high risk, explosive potential) and TAO (infrastructure). Both are worth focusing on and have the support of a mature community.
AI agents are now making breakthroughs. One protocol I am focusing on is Virtuals Protocol, described as the AI agent version of Pump.fun.
Virtuals Protocol allows you to co-own AI agents in the gaming and entertainment realm with others. Imagine co-owning entertainment robots deployed on platforms like TikTok, Roblox, and others – how fun!
4. Fantom’s New Birth: Hello, Sonic
Fantom is one of the hottest blockchains of 2021. At its peak, its TVL reached $8 billion.
Fantom is currently undergoing a transformation, rebranding itself as Sonic Chain, focusing on speed and scalability. With Andre Cronje’s return, expectations for it are high.
What new features does Sonic have? Sonic Chain promises faster transaction speeds, up to 10,000 TPS. That’s not enough, but it’s enough to make it a contender in the high-performance blockchain competition. Improved tokenomics make it one of the most anticipated updates of the fourth quarter.
Sonic’s next catalysts include:
With support from Pendle, Sonic will have liquidity staking capabilities.
Curve, KyberSwap, Snapshot, and other major DeFi protocols are launching on Sonic.
Sonic’s new fee mechanism allows developers to earn up to 90% fees.
Programs like Sonic & Sodas, Sonic Boom, and Sonic University are designed to attract developers.
Sonic Arcade’s TVL grew by 20% last quarter.
Finally, money talks. Sonic has confirmed an airdrop worth about $132 million, and on-chain activity is growing.
Andre’s involvement, large-scale airdrops, upcoming DeFi tools, and changes in tokenomics could drive Sonic’s growth in the fourth quarter.
Every day, I wake up to see new ETH Layer 2 or application chains being launched. But Solana’s leading position and the rise of Aptos / Sui indicate that there is still room for development in L1 competitive chains.
For L1 competitive chains, you can think of Solana as the Alpha version and Sonic as the Beta version.
Some things I’m concerned about:
Andre is innovative, but he has also “disappeared” in the past. His attention to Sonic brings a lot of risk because of the key figure.
There haven’t been many innovative DApps launched on Fantom in the past few years. Their most popular DApp is still Beethoven X and SpookySwap.
Sonic needs to compete with L2 and other L1 competitive chains.
Can Sonic maintain momentum after the airdrop is completed?
Currently, the Sonic ecosystem is very crowded, but it is doing interesting things, and it’s worth your attention.
5. Aerodrome: Base’s Secret Weapon
Base’s rise has been evident, and by TVL, it is recognized as the largest L2 by Ethereum.
What is the reason? Aerodrome. Aerodrome’s TVL now exceeds $1.36 billion, making it a top participant in Base’s DeFi ecosystem.
This is mainly due to its two liquidity pools.
Aerodrome’s dominance in the Base ecosystem is reflected in:
Current TVL: $1.36 billion (56% of Base’s total TVL)
30-day growth: 56% growth, higher than the market average of 15%
Market share: 80% of all DEX trading volume in Base
Daily average volume: over $150 million
As Base matures, the importance of Aerodrome as its default DEX will increasingly grow, becoming a core participant in the Base ecosystem.
In the past 20 days, Base compared to other L2s:
Daily average number of transactions:
Base: 5.6 million
Arbitrum: 2.1 million
Optimism: 850,000
Active addresses:
Base: 1.5 million monthly active users
Arbitrum: 780,000 monthly active users
Optimism: 690,000 monthly active users
TVL growth:
Base: $25 billion
Arbitrum: $24 billion
Optimism: $6.81 billion
It is clear that Base’s current development momentum is strong, so what will be the next catalyst?
Integration of Real World Assets (RWA): Platforms like Centrifuge can bring real-world assets into Base, attracting more liquidity and traditional financial participants to join its ecosystem.
GameFi and NFT: Base’s scalability makes it a perfect choice for new gaming platforms or NFT markets, leveraging these growing crypto narratives.
Developer incentives: Coinbase-supported Base may drive growth through developer incentive measures such as hackathons and funding programs, attracting more talent to join the ecosystem.
Aerodrome has created a strong DeFi ecosystem on Base, attracting both retail and institutional participants. Along with top protocols like Uniswap, Aave, Balancer, Sushiswap, Curve, and Stargate, Base has the potential to become a strong contender in the L2 race.
6. DeFi 1.0: Do Not Underestimate the Established Companies
Do you remember when Aave and Uniswap dominated DeFi? It was an era full of innovation and infinite possibilities. Now, they are returning with ambitious plans.
Aave plans to launch its native stablecoin GHO into new ecosystems like Base and Avalanche.
At the beginning of 2024, GHO had a market value of $35 million, growing 350% in the past ten months to the current $160.1 million.
Aave’s growth indicators:
Income this year has reached $50 million, the highest among all lending protocols.
The circulating supply of the stablecoin GHO has reached $160 million.
ETH TVL continues to grow, currently at 5.1 million ETH (over $110 billion), close to its previous peak.
Grayscale announced the launch of Aave Trust.
GHO is currently competing with the top 15 stablecoins, and institutional investor interest is increasing.
As for Uniswap, it recently announced the launch of its own blockchain: Unichain.
We have previously delved into the updates of Uniswap v4 ecosystem and the reaction to Unichain’s release, and here are the updated strategic measures for Uniswap:
After the launch of Unichain, a large-scale liquidity migration is expected to occur.
One of Unichain’s main goals is to help users reduce about 95% of gas costs.
The launch of Unichain may introduce new staking mechanisms.
The introduction of revenue sharing models may boost the price of UNI.
The number of wallets holding UNI tokens has exceeded 400,000.
Aave’s GHO and Uniswap’s Unichain plans may revitalize DeFi 1.0, making these giants the focus of attention once again. These initiatives could redefine the dynamics of stablecoins and reshape the DEX landscape.
Riding the Wave
The cryptocurrency market has been very challenging in recent years. Countless Ponzi schemes, closures of Terra and FTX, have plunged us into a long bear market. The entire industry has been focused on building more Ethereum Layer 2s. Now, I can feel the tide turning.
We also need to change with it: stop fooling around, overcome post-traumatic stress from the bear market, and stand at the forefront of the tide.