Encryption Industry Outlook: Transitioning from Speculation to Practicality

As the underlying technology of encryption currencies matures, industry insiders expect that by 2025, the industry will undergo a significant shift from speculation to practicality. Key factors include the clarification of the regulatory environment, increased participation of institutional investors, and ongoing technological advancements.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to promote the diversification of financial products related to encryption, which will help the U.S. re-establish its position as a global center for encryption innovation. At the same time, the U.S. may introduce a regulatory framework for stablecoins, paving the way for major financial institutions to issue their own stablecoins.

Bitcoin is likely to further consolidate its position as a digital store of value, with some countries potentially considering incorporating it into their strategic reserves. Furthermore, as various industries seek efficient decentralized solutions, the demand for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) is expected to rise.

The integration of artificial intelligence and encryption will also accelerate development, and blockchain technology is expected to provide the necessary transparency and verification mechanisms for the AI economy. Overall, 2025 may become a significant turning point for the encryption industry, and industry participants need to closely monitor these dynamic changes.

Cryptocurrency: Independent Asset or New Type of Currency?

Recently, an important financial regulator stated that cryptocurrencies should be regarded as an independent asset class and should not be mixed with traditional assets like gold. She emphasized that the complexity of cryptocurrencies currently makes them unfit to be considered as "currency."

This individual pointed out that understanding the nature of cryptocurrency is very important. She believes that cryptocurrency can serve as a medium of exchange or an asset, but it is necessary to clarify these definitions. Although cryptocurrency sometimes exhibits characteristics similar to gold, the two are not equivalent.

Her viewpoint aligns with several senior financial regulators, believing that cryptocurrencies currently do not possess the necessary attributes to function as money. This perspective may have significant implications for the future development and regulatory direction of cryptocurrencies.

Encryption regulatory case postponed for hearing

Recently, an important case involving cryptocurrency regulation has been postponed for hearing. A New York court has decided to delay the civil trial between a well-known cryptocurrency exchange and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to January 21, 2024, with the original trial date set for January 13.

The case stems from the CFTC's charges against the exchange in 2022, alleging that it provided false or misleading statements to the CFTC when applying to offer Bitcoin futures contracts in 2017. The new trial date coincides with the inauguration of a new administration, which may affect the CFTC's stance toward this exchange and other encryption companies.

The court stated that further delays will no longer be approved unless special circumstances arise. The outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for the future development of the entire encryption currency industry.

ResearchHub community has seen significant growth

A blockchain project dedicated to reforming academic research has recently made significant progress. The founder of the project stated that the ResearchHub community has seen substantial growth over the past year, and some ideas conceived a few years ago are finally starting to come to fruition.

Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, there is still much work to be done on this project. The main objectives include improving the academic publishing process, such as shortening the publication cycle of ResearchHub journals; optimizing the peer review mechanism to provide reasonable compensation for reviewers; enhancing fundraising methods; and promoting the reproducibility of research results, possibly introducing innovative mechanisms like prediction markets.

These measures aim to address a series of challenges currently facing the field of academic research, such as long publication cycles, low efficiency in peer review, and shortages of research funding. If successfully implemented, they could have a profound impact on the entire academic research ecosystem.

The AI Meme Token Market is Booming

On December 31, the AI-related encryption currency market performed strongly, with multiple token prices rising significantly. Among them, the ai16z and ELIZA tokens both set historical highs. ai16z surged 35.6% in 24 hours, reaching a market capitalization of $1.86 billion; while ELIZA's increase was even more remarkable, reaching 56.4%.

The ai16z project team announced that they are developing ElizaV2, aiming to improve architecture, enhance scalability, and optimize plugin management. The team stated that the V1 version will remain stable and mainly undergo maintenance work, while advising developers to continue development based on V1.

However, this rapid growth has also sparked some controversies. Industry insiders have pointed out that the name ai16z may infringe on the trademark rights of a well-known venture capital firm. He believes that although ai16z may have initially been just an imitation project, it has now evolved into a formal business project with a clear development roadmap.

This controversy reflects the legal and ethical challenges faced by the encryption industry during its rapid development, and also highlights the potential conflicts between traditional business rules and emerging technologies.