From a macro perspective, Web3 investment themes can be divided into two broad categories: underlying infrastructure (infra) and application scenarios (apps).

Investments can essentially be divided into two types: those that look mundane in the short term, but are likely to pay off handsomely in the long run; The other is an investment that is exciting in the short term but may ultimately be worthless.

Most cryptocurrency investors enter the market in search of quick and substantial returns, and are willing to take the corresponding risks.

As a result, people are more inclined to choose cyclical investments - which are usually short-term and only work during a specific bull market cycle.

2025 will be the "year of regulation" in the cryptocurrency space.

The United States and some other major economies plan to introduce regulations at home. The introduction of these regulations will not only enhance the trust of traditional investors, especially the older generation, but also screen out a small number of cryptocurrencies with real potential - only those backed by solid fundamentals and stable cash flow will stand out.

We can expect to see a new wave of traditional investors in the market. These investors have "old money" and will be making their first foray into cryptocurrencies.

Instead of blindly investing just because of market hype, they will carefully research projects, carefully read reports and data, and only make investment decisions if it is logical.

In this context, decentralized finance (DeFi) will become a popular investment theme for traditional investors, and the other is the Layer 1 protocol (L1) of blockchain.

However, due to the lower cap on the DeFi project, there is more room for growth and it is highly aligned with fundamentals and data. This year, some DeFi projects have generated more than $100 million in revenue, which will no doubt catch the eye of traditional investors.

The amount of capital of traditional investors is huge, and sufficient capital is the key to healthy growth of the market. Don't forget that many institutional investors are also dominated by traditional investors.

It can be predicted that DeFi will eventually become one of the important layout directions of top institutional investors.

Blackrock has already started working with the DeFi project, and this trend is gradually taking shape.

DeFi is not a cyclical investment; It's more of a long-term investment, the way investors looked at BTC and ETH in the past.

The long-term potential of AAVE may be seen as comparable to that of ETH.

When you choose to invest in a new DeFi native project, consider the short-term gains, and these projects can also bring multiples or even higher returns.

In a DEFI-dominated crypto market, many new projects will emerge, while some established projects will regain attention. You will see a wave of price increases around these items.

In the DeFi space, many blue-chip applications such as Uniswap are planning to transform into underlying infrastructure projects. This transition will further boost the value potential of tokens, and you need to be prepared for the fact that some projects may announce changes to the start-up fee mechanism next year.

These changes will inject strong momentum into DeFi's development narrative.

I expect DeFi to dominate at least two quarters of next year, just like AI did this year.

As for AI, I think 2025 will be the year that AI is widely criticized in popular culture for its rapid and uncontrolled expansion.

The discussion of "responsible AI" will take center stage.

Market activity around crypto AI infrastructure, AI agents, and Initial Agentic Offerings may enter a period of adjustment due to the "responsible AI" narrative.

But before that happens, I expect AI agents to experience a bubble of growth.

There are already 13,000 agents on the market, and I expect that number to grow to at least 100,000.

We may then enter a bubble phase that bursts the following year.

Which quarter will happen will depend on the timeline of AI regulation-related events.

Regulation will also generate interest in privacy infrastructure, so some major projects involving confidential DeFi, privacy computing, privacy storage, and privacy reasoning will receive more attention, and this attention will also be reflected in their asset performance (PA).

The Meme market will continue to be active.

Although regulators may not support it, people will always find a way in because it is impossible to stop it completely.

Speculators will continue to look for opportunities in the 100,000 new coins added every day.

However, some established memes, such as DOGE and PEPE, may attract more serious investor attention.

Even if you don't like Memes, you should consider setting aside some investment exposure for them.

2025 will also be the year that mobile Web3 wallets and super apps come to the forefront.

Recently, a Web3 wallet company called Exodus went public on NASDAQ at a $1.2 billion valuation, which could fuel a speculative rush next year for tokens related to Web3 wallets with strong revenue performance.

AI and DeFi will be the two core narratives of the coming year:

DeFi is expected to dominate;
AI agents may enter the bubble stage;
Meme speculation will attract more people to participate;
Privacy and DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure network) will come to the scene in a certain quarter;
Web3 wallets will gain more attention and drive mainstream adoption with easier user guidance and a better experience.