After experiencing a severe cooling in the market and a continuous retreat of narratives, the market is gradually returning to rationality and prudence. At present, compared to“what rises the fastest”, people are more concerned about“what can transcend cycles”. On one hand, the status of BTC as a core asset has been repeatedly validated; on the other hand, stablecoin payments and on-chain lending that can generate“real yields” have shown resilience across cycles, and infrastructures like AI Agents have begun to evolve from concept to reality.

This episode of Space focuses on this, where multiple senior guests jointly dissected the core elements that current major funds value most through in-depth discussions and exchanges. When“smart money” returns to rationality, how should ordinary investors grasp the certainty of long-term layouts amid this“purification of falsehood”? The guests provided clear directions in the dialogue; below is a summary of the essence of this deep exchange.

The retreat of narratives, the return of value: Analyzing the three core factors currently valued most by funds

As the crypto market enters a phase of cooling and initial bubble clearance, the past reliance on single“speculation” and grand narratives is quietly retreating. Against the backdrop of tightening liquidity and declining risk appetite, market sentiment has become rational. In this episode of Space, multiple senior industry guests conducted an in-depth analysis on“the core factors most valued by current funds”. The guests unanimously agreed that genuine demand, endogenous self-generation ability, and the quality of asset liquidity have become the touchstones for measuring whether projects can transcend bull and bear markets.

According to Anna Tangyuan, the current money“is starting to become smarter”. In the past, during a hot market, many projects could drive prices up by telling stories and pushing narratives. But now that liquidity is tightening, she believes that the current funds are rigorously assessing not only whether projects have real landing scenarios but also whether they possess the ability to continuously generate value“self-generation”. Having a stable income model and long-term structural support is key for projects to survive the winter and be repriced.

This view aligns closely with OxPink 's perspective. He stated that the current market is going through a natural process of seeking benefits and avoiding harm, and distinguishing truth from falsehood. Many seemingly large market demands during the bull market were actually built on“false demand”, propped up by token incentives and high subsidies, which would collapse quickly once the market weakens. In contrast, essential applications that resist cycles and projects that can continuously create actual cash flow and genuine on-chain interactions are becoming the top choices for fund risk avoidance and long-term layout.

When discussing the trends in funds, Damo Ge pointed out from a more macro perspective that funds are shifting from “offensive” to “defensive,” and investors tend to embrace assets with high certainty. Firstly, current funds focus more on whether protocols can generate real stable yields, such as lending interest and stablecoin financial return. Secondly, Bitcoin's consensus status as a core asset remains unshakable; during market volatility, its high liquidity and global consensus make it a natural“safe haven”. Finally, the degree of product-market fit has become crucial; for instance, in the AI sector, funds are no longer paying for the hype of “AI narratives” but are questioning whether these infrastructures truly enhance efficiency and create value.

Lastly, HiSeven summarized the current fund preferences with“three certainties”: First, the certainty of genuine demand; second, the certainty of liquidity; third, the certainty of value. He emphasized that the market does not no longer believe in narratives; rather, it requires narratives to be built upon verified certainty. When the tide recedes, only those projects that can retain users and funds truly possess the trump card to transcend cycles.

How does the TRON ecosystem perfectly interpret “long-term value”?

So, what kind of direction is truly suitable for long-term holding? Several guests gave highly consistent answers.

First, “essential demand” is the cornerstone for resisting the cold winter of bear markets. As emphasized by YOMIRGO and Wang Feng Anc, tracks worthy of long-term layout must be based on real and lasting demand. No matter how the market trends and narratives shift, this underlying application scenario always exists.

Secondly, long-term assets must run through the commercial loop of “self-generation” and “value feedback.” Merely having a counter-cyclical business line is not enough; more crucial is whether the token itself can capture the dividends of ecological growth. Excellent long-term projects can transparently empower holders by using profits from the protocol through mechanisms like profit buybacks and revenue distribution, allowing holders to see the real return of value.

Finally, cross-cycle assets often possess strong “self-iteration” capabilities. They can adapt to the development of technology and markets, constantly extend from a single foundational protocol, and ultimately evolve into a rich and sustainable large ecosystem.

Taking the currently robust TRON and its core DeFi landscape JUST ecosystem as an example, its development path perfectly aligns with this long-term value logic. Leveraging TRON's vast stablecoin payment network, JUST ecosystem serves as a decentralized financial hub, accurately catering to the massive users' demands for genuine yields and liquidity turnover. This ecosystem is formed by the JustLend DAO lending protocol and the decentralized stablecoin USDD, forming a “dual-drive” that builds a solid value loop. Feedback on the data level also confirms this: Currently, JustLend DAO's TVL consistently remains above $6 billion, while USDD's total network TVL has surpassed $2.17 billion, setting a new historical high.

In terms of value feedback mechanisms, the buyback and burn practice of the JUST ecosystem directly responds to the guests' mention of“allowing holders to clearly see the value return” logic. This mechanism uses the net income of JustLend DAO and the excess income from the USDD multi-chain ecosystem (more than $10 million portion) in full for the buyback of JST and permanent destruction, with every operation being publicly verifiable on-chain.

As of now, JST has completed two rounds of large-scale buybacks, with a total destruction amount reaching 1.085 billion tokens, accounting for 10.96% of the total, with a destruction amount exceeding $38 million. According to CoinGecko, under strong fundamental support, JST's market capitalization has surpassed $530 million, achieving a doubling of growth despite the drastic fluctuations in the overall market in the past six months, outperforming BTC. More critically, according to the plan of“quarterly buybacks”, this buyback mechanism will continue to advance, starting the third round of quarterly buybacks and destruction in April, and JST will once again welcome definite benefits.

From JustLend DAO and USDD 's dual drive to the value feedback mechanism of JST buyback and destruction, the evolution path of the TRON ecosystem perfectly verifies the common characteristics summarized by the guests: Those assets that can meet essential needs at the foundational level, realize value feedback mechanismically, and continuously evolve through iteration are more likely to transcend cycles and become truly long-term holding choices.