This article will delve into the progress of the overall ecological blueprint of the latest digital currency, summarizing and elaborating in detail on a series of developments including the evolution of traditional finance and Bitcoin, the development of ETH and L2, public chain development, cross-chain bridges, oracles, inscriptions, DePIN track, GameFi, SocialFi, and the top ten AI blockchain projects.

Author: BiB Exchange

Introduction

2023 has passed, and 2024 has arrived. Have you, amidst the crowd, noticed that the recent cryptocurrency circle has changed its flavor? It's not the dazzling fireworks of the new year, but a kind of exhausted singing, singing the flourishing and decadent sound.

Recently, with various projects being continuously launched and various KOLs promoting in various ways, waves of stories of hundredfold and thousandfold wealth creation linger around us. The survivorship bias has been greatly magnified, and many ordinary investors have become restless, especially with many statements such as "If you don't understand this project and don't participate now, you will be eliminated in the future, and the wealth of the cryptocurrency circle will be beyond your reach" and "Talking about technology, the consensus of the market is the consensus"… Some people regard them as words of wisdom, while others consider them as alarmist talk, causing a lot of commotion. Who is right and who is wrong?

The higher the position, the more cautious the words. Most people's opinions on a matter are mostly casual remarks or have other purposes. Although these statements may not be malicious, due to their lack of understanding (perhaps expressed in a sentimental tone of pretending to be insufficient), they may affect you, or even lead you into the abyss. However, due to the influence of these people, or a series of opinions that are as valuable as gold, many times it will also lead to a deviation in your investment style, especially in this process. Once you make a trading mistake, you will deeply doubt your principles of doing things, and even feel at a loss and anxious.

In any case, we should reflect on ourselves three times a day. Perhaps we really should stop and do some deep thinking. Even the most influential individual in the cryptocurrency circle, V God, made a declaration at the end of 2023 on social media, returning to the original application of blockchain.

Main Body

In the field of digital currency, never forgetting the original intention is the driving force for our progress, and the essence of returning to the "impossible triangle" in the cryptocurrency circle is the cornerstone of our continuous advancement. We must always bear in mind the original intention of digital currency and blockchain technology, which is to establish an open, transparent, and decentralized value transmission network. At the same time, we must also recognize the "impossible triangle" dilemma in the cryptocurrency circle, that is, a system cannot achieve complete decentralization, absolute security, and efficient operation at the same time.

With the continuous development of technology, the digital currency market is ushering in a new wave of changes. In this article, BiB Exchange will delve into the progress of the overall ecological blueprint of the latest digital currency, summarizing and elaborating in detail on a series of developments including the evolution of traditional finance and Bitcoin, the development of ETH and L2, public chain development, cross-chain bridges, oracles, inscriptions, DePin track, Gamefi, SocialFi, and the top ten AI blockchain projects.

Part One: Evolution of Traditional Finance and Bitcoin

2024 is a year of great changes and imminent takeoff for Bitcoin. An important sign of the traditional finance entering a new era is the expected successful issuance of Bitcoin spot ETF in January 2024. Although the initial attempts may not have been successful, numerous signs indicate that the Bitcoin spot ETF will become the most successful ETF issuance target in history in the first half of the year, accounting for at least 1% of the market share of the US stock ETF market, with over $72 billion flowing into the BTC spot ETF, bringing unprecedented market recognition to Bitcoin, according to the analysis by the BiB Exchange team.

In April 2024, Bitcoin experienced its fourth halving, which is traditionally considered the mechanism for the start of a bull market. History has repeatedly proven that the price of Bitcoin has experienced a substantial increase after the halving event, and this time is no exception. According to market analysis, the price of Bitcoin is expected to surpass $100,000, bringing substantial returns to investors. Meanwhile, we can also refer to the previous BiB Exchange column article "Turning the Tide? 2024 Bitcoin Halving & Cycle Analysis," which provides a detailed description of the Bitcoin halving and a more in-depth analysis perspective for investors.

The US general election will end on November 5, 2024, and the measures of the two parties on national debt and the policies of the Federal Reserve will affect the market's regulatory mechanism. The expected reduction in constraints by the elected party is widely regarded as a positive factor for the market, laying a better foundation for the steady development of various industries.

Circle, the parent company of USDC, plans to go public in April 2024, marking a landmark event in the transition of digital finance to traditional finance. This signifies that the digital currency industry has gained broader recognition in the traditional financial market, injecting new vitality into the digital currency field and providing strong support for the promotion and development of digital currency.

Finally, in the second half of 2024, with the expected easing policy of the Federal Reserve, liquidity may be released, the cost of fund utilization may decrease, and investment and purchasing power will be further enhanced. Although the easing is not inevitable, this expectation provides investors with an optimistic outlook, demonstrating the strong development momentum of Bitcoin and the digital currency field under multiple favorable factors. 2024 will undoubtedly be a colorful and opportunistic year for Bitcoin and the digital currency field.

The evolution of traditional finance, to some extent, is the best means for complete decentralization of encrypted digital currency, from breaking out of the circle to participating in the daily financial field, no longer confined to the cryptocurrency circle alone.

Part Two: The Rise of ETH and L2 Technology

In 2024, the development of Ethereum (ETH) may undergo tremendous changes, starting with the upgrade of Ethereum, with January 17, 2024 tentatively set as the first test network deployment date for the upcoming "Dencun" upgrade. Ethereum's revenue is expected to increase significantly in 2024, possibly several times that of 2023. The main reason for this change lies in the continuous growth of on-chain applications and the continuous improvement of the Cancun upgrade based on ETH. The introduction of the Cancun upgrade is expected to significantly reduce the Gas fees of Layer 2 (L2), thereby reducing the cost of each on-chain transaction, bringing favorable conditions to the entire Ethereum ecosystem. The originally planned completion of the Cancun upgrade in the fourth quarter of 2023 has attracted attention due to the delay, and it is expected to be scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. Although the possibility of a delay still exists, it will not be a long delay.

The breakthrough of L2 technology (Layer 2) will also have a profound impact on the future of Ethereum. The core idea of L2 technology is to build a second-layer solution on top of the blockchain to improve transaction speed and reduce transaction costs. The rise of solutions such as Optimistic Rollup and ZK-Rollup has greatly improved the performance and scalability of the blockchain. L2 solutions build an independent blockchain network on top of the main chain, significantly improving the transaction speed and throughput of the blockchain. The author has previously provided a detailed explanation of L2 mechanisms in "BiB Exchange: Exploring the Speed and Passion of Blockchain - Layer 2," for those interested.

Part Three: Flourishing Development of Public Chains

In 2024, public chain technology will make significant progress. BiB Exchange predicts that first-generation public chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will continue to expand and optimize performance in 2023. Bitcoin may achieve better scalability, while Ethereum will fully transition to PoS consensus and sharding technology. At the same time, many new public chain projects are emerging, such as Solana/Avalanche and other third-generation public chains, which will attract more decentralized applications and form a more complete ecosystem.

In December, SOL's price surge was the most significant among all public chains, especially surpassing ETH. The Solana ecosystem's liquidity staking protocol, Jito, launched the governance token JTO, which was not participated in by core contributors, resulting in significant community benefits. Another notable project is the wealth creation news in the Silly ecosystem of SOL, with thousands of times of increase, leading to a surge in the number of ecosystem projects.

These high-speed, low-cost public chains will bring new improvements in transaction speed, network capacity, and other indicators. For example, Avalanche's TPS can reach 4500+ and already supports 100,000+ validating nodes. It has also established a partnership with Chainlink to introduce high-quality external data into Avalanche. Its subnet functionality has officially launched, supporting more customized subchains to serve different types of dApps.

In December, the noticeable rapid price surges of LUNA/LUNC/INJ and other tokens in the Cosmos ecosystem exceeded 300% on average, while the mainnet token ATOM's performance was average. The reason BiB Exchange is paying attention to the Cosmos ecosystem is not only because exchanges such as dydx have chosen the Cosmos main chain, but also because the latest proposal for ATOM staking grants liquidity staking solutions, indicating promising prospects for the future.

Looking at the Polkadot ecosystem, the notably high staking yield of 16% is the first thing that catches our attention. Compared to ETH's yield of around 4%, DOT's staking yield is very attractive, especially for new governance roles: holders and technical associations. From a governance perspective, the new proposal is more decentralized compared to the original governance plan, and Polkadot's governance is more closely related to holders.

Part Four: Innovative Cross-Chain Bridges

The interconnection of multiple chains is an inevitable trend driving the development of the cryptocurrency industry, and cross-chain bridge technology is the key to achieving interoperability between multiple chains. BiB Exchange believes that the next generation of cross-chain bridges can not only achieve seamless interaction between digital currencies but also cross different blockchain networks, further promoting the prosperity of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem. As mentioned earlier, cross-chain interoperability is a new direction for the development of public chains.

Projects such as Cosmos and Polkadot will continue to optimize cross-chain bridging and asset transfer processes, making cross-chain calls more convenient. This helps in building an open network connecting multiple chains. New public chain models will also emerge, such as consortium public chains allowing multiple blockchains to share security; zero-knowledge proof consensus providing better privacy protection, and more. These innovations will drive public chains to new heights in security and performance. For example, Cosmo now supports a native USDC cross-chain ecosystem called CCTP, dedicated to building bridges between different blockchains.

Even the cross-chain bridge project SOBB for SOL and BTC has attracted tens of thousands of people to hold assets in the BRC and SOL ecosystems for new opportunities, consuming a large amount of fees to compete for 1350 whitelist spots. This illustrates how intense a cross-chain bridge project can be.

At the same time, the most controversial cross-chain bridge project is also worth paying attention to. The FTX Foundation, deeply embroiled in litigation, sued LayerZero Labs in September 2023. However, this does not affect the market influence of LayerZero and its utility in various public chains. The project has always had the ability to use native tokens in the protocol, and it has now explicitly stated that it will launch the LayerZero token, expected to be realized in the first half of 2024.

Part Five: Intelligent Applications of Oracles

I believe everyone has seen the crazy price surge of TRB. Some say it's a story of a few people controlling the Korean market, while others say that 20 people control 95% of TRB tokens. However, regardless, this project is ultimately an oracle, and even with such a high token price, its market value is only $600 million.

The application of oracles in the cryptocurrency field is increasingly receiving attention. The latest developments indicate that oracles are not just tools for data transmission but are gradually evolving into an indispensable part of smart contracts. The execution of smart contracts will be more reliable and efficient, providing stronger support for the popularization and application of digital currencies.

BiB has previously written a comprehensive article on Chainlink in "BiB Exchange: Exploring the Oracle in the Hidden Corner," which describes how it connects blockchain systems with real-world data. Oracles extract data from the real world and introduce it into the blockchain for smart contract invocation and use.

At the same time, let's mention another project: Pyth and its data providers from Vela Exchange, Unidex, HMX, Synthetix, and other platforms. Some say that the Pyth network can only provide price information, which means it may offer far less data than its competitors. However, it ensures that no one can manipulate market prices through false information, especially by providing confidence intervals based on data integration from multiple sources on the network to provide price information.

Part Six: Breakthroughs in Inscription Technology

Part Three: Flourishing Development of Public Chains

This wave of enthusiasm should have been enjoyed by many people, especially with the three projects ORDI/SATS/RATS sparking a market frenzy. Bitcoin inscription is a technology that involves writing text or data on the Bitcoin blockchain, which can be any content such as images, videos, audio, text, etc. Inscriptions (NFTs) continue to grow rapidly and are widely used in fields such as art and gaming. The NFT standard is continuously being optimized and enriched, allowing NFTs to represent a wider range of digital assets and collectibles. Many mainstream brands have also launched their own NFT series. NFT marketing has become a new trend.

Inscription technology is an innovative technology in the cryptocurrency field that achieves transaction privacy and security by introducing encryption algorithms into transactions. The latest inscription technology not only safeguards user privacy but also provides a better solution for the legitimate and compliant application of digital currencies, contributing to the sustainable development of the cryptocurrency industry.

Part Seven: The Rise of GameFi

Many people say that in 2024, GameFi will be the booster of the bull market, and the project tokens of GameFi will experience explosive growth. The BiB Exchange team pointed out in the article "From Poverty, Confusion to Enthusiasm? BiB Exchange Takes You to Explore the Largest GameFi Application Market in the World - the Philippines" that GameFi can even have an impact on the industry of a country.

PLAY TO EARN is the initial form of value for GameFi, and the game mode has rapidly grown by rewarding players with cryptocurrency or NFTs. Many traditional gaming companies have also joined this industry, attempting to redefine the business model of games with blockchain technology. There are also many challenges, such as sustainability and scalability. However, the Play to Earn model also has certain limitations and drawbacks, so there are many subsequent game modes similar to Move to Earn, Play and Develop, social games, decentralized games, metaverse games, NFT interoperable games, game-as-a-service, and other models.

The gaming industry is not just about games themselves; it even extends to industries such as gambling. For example, in December 2023, statistics showed that over $1 billion would be invested in the gambling prediction market, becoming a new killer application in the cryptocurrency market.

In conclusion, for games, the biggest point is the large market and user base. For example, the development process of various traditional online games such as Fantasy Westward Journey, Legend, DNF, DOTA, League of Legends, and even mobile games like Honor of Kings and PUBG. Therefore, the transition of these mobile games to Web3 games is definitely worth looking forward to and investing in.

Part Eight: Frontier Exploration of DePin

Recently, the DePin track has been particularly hot, especially as various inscriptions have revealed that mining groups are quietly hidden wealth harvesters. When it comes to the mining track, everyone will think of "Filecoin." If we look at this model rationally, it's not difficult to see that the mining boom of 2021 is back. They started laying out various mineable coins from 2019 to 2020, so are they laying out again before the bull market of 2024? Especially with the major players behind FIL/ICP, Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and HashKey Capital, announcing the joint launch of the Web3.0 innovation incubation platform Future 3 Campus, focusing on Web3.0 Massive Adoption, DePIN, and AI. Is it another collective "mining" effort? It's worth pondering.

DePin is short for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks. It is the abbreviation for "decentralized physical infrastructure networks." Its core concept is to use tokens to incentivize users to deploy real-world hardware devices to provide goods, services, or digital resources.

DePin can be divided into two categories:

• Physical Resource Networks (PRN): Users provide services such as WiFi, 5G, VPN, etc., through hardware devices distributed in various locations.
• Digital Resource Networks (DRN): Infrastructure networks that provide digital resources through hardware facilities, including broadband networks, storage networks, and computing power networks.

DePin uses hardware devices and resources to decentralize and lightweight these heavy asset services through token incentives, solving the cold start problem. It adopts a spiral-up mechanism, allowing users, providers, and platforms to participate with minimal risk. DePin technology enhances the security and credibility of digital currencies through decentralized identity verification.

BiB Exchange believes that a representative project in this area is Helium. Helium Mobile, as a blockchain decentralized network company, focuses on the research and application of IoT infrastructure and DePIN (decentralized IoT protocol) technology. Its core product is building a blockchain-based distributed IoT network, mainly integrating the blockchain with IoT in the infrastructure field.

By incentivizing users to provide network coverage and transmission services, Helium Mobile greatly reduces the cost of network construction and maintenance. Users only need to pay a low equipment cost to participate in the network and receive token incentives. Helium Mobile's main competitors include DIMO, Hivemapper, and other blockchain-based decentralized network and data platforms. These projects are all competing in the data transmission and analysis market for IoT and autonomous driving vehicles.

Of course, other hot projects in this area are worth researching: LoRaWAN routers, shib partner's bells mining, Mynd, and other projects are all in full swing with their promotions.

Part Nine: SocialFi

SocialFi is a perennial topic, referring to decentralized social applications that combine social functions with blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. This is another rising blockchain track after DeFi and GameFi. Some people predicted during the previous bull market that it would become a hot project, attracting the favor of many investors, but its market performance often fell short of expectations.

The SocialFi ecosystem is rapidly expanding and has formed a unique product ecosystem based on networking, storage and data, social infrastructure, and application layers.

• Social Tokens: Represent membership in online communities or holding social tokens to gain special privileges such as access rights, voting rights, or community influence, such as Rally (RLY), Friends With Benefits (FWB), and BitClout for content creation.
• Social Wallets: Wallets designed for social connections, tips, and transactions. They seamlessly send cryptocurrencies in social environments, such as Phantom, Solana, and MetaMask wallets.
• Social NFT Platforms: Platforms for buying, selling, and trading NFTs while connecting with other users, such as Blur, OpenSea, LooksRare, and Solanart.
• Social DAO: Platforms for launching decentralized autonomous organizations, with built-in social profiles, chat, and forum features, such as Collab.Land, Prime DAO, and proposal voting on Snapshot.
• Social Platforms: Platforms that combine social networking with crowdfunding to raise funds, such as BitClout and Cluster, focusing on social connections in online virtual worlds, such as Cryptovoxels and Decentraland.
• Social Gaming Platforms: Focused on social interaction and community in blockchain games, such as Axie Infinity and The Sandbox.

This also includes applications such as Social networks for investors, Content creation - social network, Content creation, Infrastructure, Donations/charities, Blogs/Text, and more.

Traditional metaverse projects include sandbox and mana, mainly through the metaverse social pioneer. With the rise of the Metaverse concept, it is foreseeable that new ways of combining SocialFi and GameFi will continue to emerge, opening up broader imaginative space for SocialFi applications. As a product that combines social networks with the crypto economy, users can earn cryptocurrency rewards by sharing content and building communities. BiB Exchange believes that SocialFi eliminates the exploitation of traditional social media platforms and allows creators to gain more value. This is why many industry insiders are optimistic about the seamless transition from Web2 to Web3 with SocialFi. If SocialFi applications can successfully enter the mainstream market, they have the potential to significantly change the landscape of the social and content industry.

Part Ten: The Combination of AI and Blockchain

From ChatGPT to dialogue AI systems launched by major tech companies such as Google's Bard, Amazon's Claude, and Musk's GROK, we can see that this field is rapidly iterating and progressing, with impressive projects and their stories behind them being presented to the public.

In the development of digital currencies, artificial intelligence (AI) projects have also become a focus of attention. The application of AI projects will provide more intelligent and personalized services for digital currencies, driving the continuous advancement of the digital currency industry. Firstly, in terms of market analysis and prediction, machine learning algorithms can analyze large amounts of market data, detect potential trends and patterns, and help investors make wiser decisions, which is particularly important for the highly volatile digital currency market.

Secondly, in trading strategies: By using AI to predict market trends and user behavior, the efficiency of managing Defi products can be improved. AI can be used to develop intelligent trading strategies. Machine learning-based algorithms can continuously optimize and adapt to market changes, helping investors better manage risks and gain profits. Some hedge funds and professional trading companies have already begun to adopt these technologies. Even if AI models are trained to become decentralized autonomous agents, they may disrupt the existing economic system.

Furthermore, fraud detection: AI in the field of digital currencies can also be used for fraud detection. By monitoring transactions and account activities, machine learning models can identify abnormal patterns and help prevent fraudulent behavior. At the same time, AI can also act as a fraudster, simulating relevant opposing parties. Lastly, AI in the application of blockchain technology and smart contracts, the execution and management of smart contracts may be achieved more efficiently and intelligently through AI.

Image Source Foresight News: https://foresightnews.pro/article/detail/49670

These are some of the latest developments in the AI and blockchain tracks, with a relatively large number of projects. We can see that these technologies not only change the financial system but also affect various aspects of human society, bringing new economic forms, cultural forms, and organizational structures, while also facing certain risks and unknowns. However, BiB Exchange believes that regardless, the unstoppable tide of change brought about by new technologies makes us all witnesses and participants in history.

Conclusion

Remembering our original intention and returning to the essence of the "impossible triangle" in the cryptocurrency circle. The seamless connection from Web2 to Web3 will be the easiest way to achieve it. As a new wave of blockchain technology applications in the Internet field, Web3 realizes decentralized networks and applications based on blockchain and the crypto economy, including decentralized identity authentication, data ownership, communication payments, and may further expand into new areas such as the metaverse in the future. BiB Exchange believes that the development of digital currencies is endless, and we, as ordinary participants in the cryptocurrency circle, must continue to learn and innovate, seize the opportunities of technological development, and promote a more prosperous future for the digital currency industry. Only by constantly returning to our original intention and maintaining the essence of innovation can we continue to move forward and surpass in the wave of digital currencies.

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