Opinion by: Ken Alabi
Every four years, a few months after the reduction in half of Bitcoin, the blockchain ecosystem undergoes a in -depth public examination. Generally lasting over a year, this period is motivated by fundamental economic principles: when the supply of an asset is reduced while demand remains stable or increases, its value generally increases. Historically, this supply shock has triggered an assessment of the market led by Bitcoin, aroused increased interests and participation of users, developers, investors and decision -makers.
During these post-launch periods, the blockchain industry presented its projects, technological innovations and potential public services. None of the previous cycles have given a blockchain application that unequivocally eclipses existing technologies in a specific field. However, the main forces of Blockchain – the immutability, the transparency of the data and the sovereignty of the user assets activated by the encryption of private keys – continue to attract innovators. These features have been applied in a creative manner in many sectors, in particular borderless payment systems, DEFI, NFT, game systems with recorded assets, fans and loyalty tokens, transparent subsidies and charitable disbursement systems, agricultural subsidies and monitoring of loans.
Although past cycles have highlighted the potential of blockchain, the following period promises to audition new use cases, such as detailed below.
Half -past cycles
The 2012 post-launch period highlighted the potential for non-mediated and borderless payment systems. Before Bitcoin, intermediate payments and slow cross -border transactions were the standard – international transfers took days and control authorizations were just as slow. Bitcoin alluded to a future of transparent payments, and the first adopters followed the number of companies accepting Bitcoin. However, evolution problems and the increase in transaction costs have limited this utility. Ironically, many blockchain networks have penalized their success thanks to costs of costs that have hampered growth. This cycle ended with security violations, including Mount Gox Hack 20 months after the reduction in half.
The 2016 cycle has introduced an explosion of initial parts (ICO) offers, democratizing access to the financing of the company. Ordinary individuals could now invest in start -up projects – an opportunity formerly reserved for large financial institutions. However, the market was flooded with tokens supported by a little more than white buses. The lack of protection and responsibility of investors has led to the rapid collapse of many ICOs. Most of the projects of that time are obsolete, even the largest ICO no longer ranking among the 100 best blockchain projects.
In 2020, three significant trends dominated: DEFI patterns, NFT and security game games (P2E). DEFI projects have promised unsustainable yields – sometimes exceeding 100% – by hitting more tokens to provide yields without any economic support activity. Likewise, NFTs have experienced massive assessments, some for a simple pixel art that could not have value. The media metavenic threshing has also collapsed while the expectations of mass virtual adoption have not taken up. The P2E games relied on inflationist tokenomics that collapsed when growth is in a standstill, exposing the fragility of these models.
The 2024 post-launching cycle began on a solid basis with the approval of the Bitcoin FNB based in the United States, officially incorporating cryptocurrency into traditional financial markets. This decision, associated with blockchain communities, increasingly influencing democratic processes, has marked a significant change.
For the first time, cryptographic assets are found in financial systems rather than outside, potentially leading to balanced regulations instead of general hostility towards technology. People intrinsically see his usefulness and have spoken to him. The United States is about to play a leading role in the adoption of blockchain technology, which augurs well, in particular by considering the American role in other previous and advanced technological innovations. The following question: how far will this integration go? Could we see more countries add cryptographic assets to national reserves beyond the one who already has them? Beyond regulatory progress, several blockchain applications are ready to examine this cycle.
Decentralized active in real world
The tokenization of active world active ingredients and the decentralization of their funding gained ground. The RWAS allow asset owners to benefit directly from the financing based on the blockchain. The key sectors include real estate and domestic financing, stocks, bonds, cash bills, agricultural financing, depth and deput.
Blockchain-Ai Synergie
The AI combined with the blockchain emerges as a powerful force. The decentralized management of AI models and secure data management offers new solutions, in particular for confidentiality. The AI could surpass solutions like ZK-Snarks by managing encrypted data, revealing its proof or proof of data only to its owner, as indicated by its owner, or to the application entities authorized under conditions Specified, depending on the constitution of the blockchain.
Microtransactions
Traditional financial systems cannot support microtransactions due to high operational costs. With low -cost transaction models, blockchains are naturally suitable for micropaies, especially for content consumption. This could dismantle obsolete grouping in the media and lead a new era of transparent payments.
Even celebrities and celebrities
Samecoins has proliferated, with almost 10 now in the top 100 by market capitalization and missing in almost any real utility. Blockchains at a lower cost and the tools for creating friendly tokens fuel this trend. The tokens even launched by or around popular public figures also gain popularity, but most of them also lack public services.
Stable
Stablecoins continue to fill traditional finance and blockchain. With faster and cheaper blockchains dominating this cycle, stabbed is widely used for payments, contesting systems such as slow verification compensation and expensive cross -border transfers. Regulatory clarity could push stablecoins to traditional adoption.
What the first data reveal
Toronet Research followed the performance of tokens in all categories from January to May 2024, projecting trends in December. The results:
Data has shown that memes, AI and RWA tokens were leaders in early growth. Other observations include that all categories have shown growth in volume, typical of increased interest and participation in blockchain projects that seem to occur every four years. Party projects may not have experienced a lot of growth to start the cycle, although one or more innovative projects can carry out certain breakthroughs. The growth of layer 2 projects exceeds those of layer 1 projects or absorbing a large part of the growth that the latter would have known. The results of January 2025 are presented in the form of a graphic below.
Report on the 2024 Coingecko cryptographic industry in 2024 examined the categories of trends by web traffic with similar results for the three main categories. An additional observation of the Toronet research report is that, as we have seen in previous cycles, the application zones with little utility that led the mania of the previous cycle, such as ICOs in 2017 and NFT in 2021, tend to be repudiated in the following cycle. The developers and industry leaders should endeavor to guide new adopters to sustainable projects and focused on public services to reduce market volatility and minimize the disillusionment of investors. This will reduce the intensity of the quadrian cycles of Boom-Bust and the extent and number of these disillusions, many already staring to chase the same and ultimately drops of unanswered in futility.
Are we going to break the cycle?
The current cycle offers blockchain its most important opportunity for having a lasting impact. The industry is ready for significant growth with increasing institutional integration, the promise of more thoughtful regulations and a transition to real utility. The increasing acceptance and integration of blockchain solutions within the wider economy and the potential for incoming thoughtful regulations will probably make you a much better result than the previous ones.
Opinion by: Ken Alabi
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and must not be considered as legal or investment advice. The points of view, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are the only of the author and do not reflect or do not necessarily represent the opinions and opinions of Cointellegraph.
