Author's Viewpoint: Kamal Mokeddem, General Partner at Finality Capital

The current mainstream narrative among institutions regarding altcoins is: if you want to allocate to crypto assets, just buy Bitcoin and move on.

Bitcoin now has an ETF and outperforms almost all other digital assets. This cycle has not seen a massive altcoin rally like in 2017 or 2021. At the peak in 2021, the number of active tokens exceeded 2.6 million; today, that number has surpassed 42 million. It’s no wonder many believe the game is over.

This view is both lazy and incorrect. The absence of a "altcoin season" does not mean opportunities have vanished; rather, the market is maturing.

The chaotic token frenzy of 2017 and 2021 is a thing of the past—over-supply, poor token economics, and retail fatigue have all contributed to this situation. Equating the end of indiscriminate speculation with the demise of altcoins overlooks the real story. These tokens are no longer trying to compete as currencies; they are evolving into one of the most powerful growth marketing tools we have seen.

Bitcoin will not become the preferred currency asset. All tokens have some non-zero currency premium. The tokens most likely to achieve the most significant currency premium are those most commonly used as payment methods, expected to be the native tokens supporting the most popular Web3 applications. It is too early to say whether this will be Ethereum, SOL, or something else, but it is almost certain it will not be Bitcoin.

Altcoins are transitioning from speculative chips to fundamental business vernacular. They are not meant to replace Bitcoin. They are designed to accelerate adoption, pulling users out of Web2 silos and launching new networks faster and cheaper than any company in history.

The consequences of this adoption will change the internet as we know it. The value of Web2 companies depends on their ability to hoard and monetize data. Once this data becomes portable, verifiable, and user-controlled, the moats maintaining these monopolies will begin to erode.

In the next five years, we should expect to see a year-on-year decline in revenue for Web2 giants for the first time. Google and Facebook, whose profit margins rely on data lock-in, are at the greatest risk. Meanwhile, Apple can benefit regardless of whether applications are Web2 or Web3, as they still run on the iPhone. Amazon's logistics moat will remain, but even so, tokenized networks could erode its dominance.

Altcoins are not dead. They have simply found their purpose as engines of growth, disguised as assets.

For altcoins, the biggest breakthroughs come from the technical level. Zero-Knowledge Transmission Layer Security Protocol (zkTLS) is a mechanism that can cryptographically verify data exchanged under HTTPS, making it possible to transform isolated Web2 data into verifiable inputs on Web3.

This opens the floodgates for new applications. In fintech, employees can prove their paychecks on-chain, allowing them to instantly obtain USDC loans via debit cards without payday loan companies. In advertising, influencers can link posts to verified conversions, earning rewards without opaque intermediaries. In identity-driven services like ride-sharing, historical records can be migrated across platforms, earning token incentives by switching service providers.

The impact goes far beyond this. Remittance services can bypass traditional remittance monopolies; tokenized credit scoring can expand financial service coverage in emerging markets; and in healthcare, patients can prove their medical history without exposing their privacy.

In e-commerce, verified purchase histories can unlock multi-platform loyalty rewards. In the infrastructure sector, some projects have utilized tokens to build decentralized 5G networks. Even in AI, networks are demonstrating how to coordinate global computing power and data resources with tokens.

In every scenario, tokens are not just abstract assets; they are incentive mechanisms—fueling the migration of users from traditional giants to new challengers. In the Web2 era, companies like Uber or DoorDash invested billions in subsidies to attract drivers and customers. Now, token startups can achieve the same effect with lower capital, significantly shortening the time to cold start bilateral markets.

Similar cases already exist in the crypto-native market. For example, new exchanges can reward users who can prove their trading volume on other platforms through "vampire attacks," competing for liquidity. Wherever data can be verified, tokens can be deployed to redistribute attention and liquidity.

All of this has become a reality because the crypto tech stack has matured. In the early stages, only a handful of tech-savvy founders could launch products. Now, foundational modules like databases, storage, and identity layers are well-developed, paving the way for a new generation of business-oriented founders to build billion-dollar enterprises in Web3.

The path of internet development has been similar: in the 1990s, as the tech stack stabilized, "tech founders" were gradually replaced by "business operators," resulting not in fewer companies but in the birth of Amazon, Google, and Facebook. The crypto industry is approaching a similar inflection point.

Timing is crucial. The trillion-dollar advertising market is ripe for disruption. Similarly, the fintech, social media, and cloud infrastructure industries are also in growth corridors. Web2 monopolies rely on hoarding user data, while Web3 releases this data; and tokens are the incentive layer needed to facilitate the switch.

For institutions, equating Bitcoin ETFs with crypto exposure is one of the biggest misconceptions. Bitcoin may still exist as a reserve asset, but the real venture-capital-grade upside potential lies in the various tokens that empower application deployment. Ignoring them would be as foolish as missing the entire internet wave due to the bankruptcy of Pets.com in 2000.

The risks are asymmetric: either position yourself while the sector is still under the radar and valuations are reasonable, or wait until traditional giants are disrupted and pay ten times the price for the same exposure.

Regardless, mass adoption is unstoppable; the only decision you need to make is whether to participate early or arrive late.

Author's Viewpoint: Kamal Mokeddem, General Partner at Finality Capital

Related Articles: Tokenized government bonds surpass $8.6 billion, banks and exchanges promote their use as collateral.

Original Article: “Altcoins Aren't Dead; Long Live Altcoins”

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。