The Rhythm Shift of the Industry: From "Fast" to "Steady"
The trajectory of Web3’s development is undergoing a profound shift in rhythm.
In the early days, narrative-driven hype and speculative frenzy defined the crypto ecosystem. Bitcoin halving, DeFi Summer, and the NFT craze — these stories attracted massive capital and attention in short bursts, accelerating the buildout of infrastructure. Yet running too fast came with hidden risks: over-reliance on funding and neglect of long-term utility, leaving many projects as short-lived flashes in the pan.
The paradox of speed is that it did spark innovation, but also drained user and investor patience. As the industry cooled during 2022–2023, the speculative bubble faded and the market turned rational. This was not a retreat, but rather the beginning of true internalized growth.
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin and Ethereum have reasserted dominance: Bitcoin’s market cap share fell to ~39% in 2022, recovered to 45.6% in 2023, rose further to 51.9% in 2024, and has reached nearly 59.3% in 2025. This indicates that after the last bear cycle, capital is increasingly flowing into top-tier assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
By contrast, although long-tail altcoins and Memecoin have made some waves in certain areas, their overall growth has been sluggish. For example, the Pepe memecoin boom in Q2 2023 pushed its market cap to $1.5 billion by late 2024, only to crash below $700 million soon after. At the end of 2024, meme launch platforms like Pumpfun once generated fee revenues rivaling Tier-2 exchanges, but as the market rationalized, fees fell to just 5% of their peak.
(Red line: Cumulative trading volume of pumpfun; blue column: Daily transaction fee of pumpfun; source: Dune)
Memecoins without fundamentals are often "fireworks" that can’t hold long-term value. Meanwhile, crypto assets with network effects and ecosystems — Bitcoin, Ethereum — have proven more resilient, their market cap share rising far more than most long-tail projects.
The decline in investors' risk appetite and the return of value have accelerated the concentration of market funds towards top assets. The market signal is very clear: speculative projects are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain in the long term, and funds are concentrating and returning to top assets.
（Source: crypto rank）
The investment logic of VC has also undergone a transformation. Crypto venture funding peaked in 2022, and then shrank sharply in 2023. By 2024–2025, capital returned but with a new focus: investors now prefer strong teams with working MVPs and cash-flow models over narrative-driven experiments.
Faced with the shrinking of investment opportunities in the primary market, industrial capital is now turning its attention to opportunities in the secondary market and the public market.
On the one hand, traditional VCs are becoming increasingly cautious about investing in early-stage crypto projects; on the other hand, large institutional funds are beginning to invest in publicly traded crypto assets. For example, crypto investment firm Pantera recently invested $300 million specifically in companies using the "Digital Asset Treasury" (DAT) model, betting that these publicly traded companies, which include crypto assets in their financial reports, can generate returns superior to those obtained through direct holdings or ETFs.
These DAT companies raise funds by issuing stocks, then accumulate BTC/ETH and use staking/DeFi strategies to grow NAV per share. The model has quickly drawn Wall Street’s attention, with billions raised and legendary investors like Stan Druckenmiller, Bill Miller, and ARK joining in.
The valuation paradigm of traditional capital markets is thus influencing and reshaping the native Web3 rules. These firms may be branded as "crypto concepts," but operate like traditional businesses: priced on balance sheets and cash flows, emphasizing fundamentals such as net asset value per share and discounted earnings. MicroStrategy (now renamed as "Strategy") has been purchasing a large amount of Bitcoin since 2020. Its stock performance is linked to the price of Bitcoin, and it is regarded as a "quasi-Bitcoin ETF". The new generation of DAT model companies represented by BitMine Immersion has gone further, boldly obtaining Ethereum holdings through equity and convertible bond financing, and using staking and DeFi strategies to increase asset returns.
This marks a Maslow-like shift in Web3 priorities: from high-risk adventuring to basic needs of safety, payments, and trust.
In the past, Web3 was rife with speculation and speed, but now, as capital and narratives cool down, the industry is shifting towards a more robust build period. The increase in the market capitalization share of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the transformation of VC investment logic, the advancement of policy regulation, and the rise of new asset operation models such as "DAT" are all signals of the arrival of the "BenFen era".
Global Participants Are Becoming More "BenFen": A Sign of Industry Maturity
If "rhythm shift" is the external manifestation of the industry, then "BenFen-ization" is the deeper internal logic. The so-called BenFen means that different actors are returning to constructive and sustainable development paths.
The evolution of the policy environment is shaping new industry boundaries. The U.S. GENIUS Act, the EU’s MiCA, and Hong Kong’s stablecoin licensing system, though different in details, share a clear consensus: protect investors, strengthen transparency, and open channels for compliant capital to enter. For project teams, this means "grey-zone" businesses will become increasingly difficult, and compliance and transparency will become mandatory thresholds.
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United States: The Stablecoin Innovation and Protection Act (GENIUS Act) requires that stablecoin issuance must be 100% backed by highly liquid assets (U.S. dollars, short-term U.S. Treasuries, etc.), and mandates issuers to publicly disclose reserve composition on a monthly basis, ensuring that stablecoins truly "live up to their name."
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European Union: The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) stipulates that crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) must obtain licenses and meet capital requirements, and they bear legal responsibility for customer asset losses; stablecoin issuers must maintain 1:1 reserves and make regular disclosures, while large-scale stablecoins will also be supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Banking Authority (EBA).
From search trends, if in 2021 the high-frequency keywords in the blockchain field on Google Trends were "DeFi," "NFT," and "yield farming," then, in 2024–2025, the protagonists of search popularity have quietly shifted to "stablecoins," "compliance," and "cross-border payment."
Especially at regulatory benefit nodes such as the implementation of the EU’s MiCA and the signing of the U.S. GENIUS Act, Google Trends also shows that global search popularity for "stablecoins" spiked to historical highs when regulatory benefits (such as MiCA taking effect and the signing of the GENIUS Act in the U.S.) occurred (see figure below).
Google search trends for stablecoins (Source: Google Trends)
These data indicate that although industry growth has not shown the explosive carnival of the early stage, it is steadily rebounding, with growth becoming sustainable. From the evolution of keywords, it is not difficult to see the trajectory of the industry shifting from speculative narratives to stability and application scenarios, with blockchain technology becoming the underlying infrastructure for payment scenarios.
Under this trend, the capital market is also looking for more stable entry approaches. ETFs are one pathway to introduce traditional funds into the crypto field, while the recent surge in BitMine’s stock price has proven the effectiveness of the DAT strategy: raising additional equity at a premium in exchange for crypto assets, using convertible bonds to cash out volatility gains, and earning staking and DeFi interest, ultimately feeding returns back into per-share assets.
Its successful demonstration shows that applying traditional DCF valuation models to crypto asset operations is feasible: the market has begun to price these companies based on their per-share asset appreciation capability, rather than merely on the conceptual premium of crypto assets. This trend has already been reflected in the finances of traditional enterprises and listed companies: more and more institutions are no longer merely observing, but directly incorporating Bitcoin and Ethereum into their balance sheets.
At present, the number of Bitcoin and Ethereum held in the balance sheets of listed companies and institutions is reaching new highs. As of the second quarter of 2025, there are more than 100 listed companies globally holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets, with a combined total of about 1 million BTC (approximately 4.7% of Bitcoin’s total supply, valued at around $110 billion). In terms of Ethereum, statistics show that 11 institutions together hold nearly 2.98 million ETH (about 2.5% of Ethereum’s supply, valued at around $13.8 billion). These data indicate that traditional capital is accelerating its entry into the crypto asset market through methods such as ETFs and listed company balance sheet allocations.
The advancement of legislation provides an umbrella of protection for investors, while also paving a broad avenue for the entry of long-term funds such as sovereign wealth funds and corporate treasury departments. When a large amount of compliant capital floods in, the rules of the crypto industry increasingly converge with those of the traditional capital market — transparency, compliance, and intrinsic value will become the focus of the market, and large-scale popularization and application will thus become more likely. As capital logic gradually institutionalizes, industry attention will correspondingly shift from speculation to construction.
The essence of this trend is that Web3 is entering the "Builder Era". The value of trust and order is replacing short-term profit-seeking as the core. Just as the guild rules of the Middle Ages once provided the trust foundation for commerce, today stablecoins and compliance frameworks have become the "rice, oil, and salt" of digital finance — and this "daily necessity" value is directly reflected in stablecoin data.
(Image source: Internet; please delete if infringing)
The Explosive Growth of Stablecoin Data Also Indicates a Reshaping Landscape
According to Artemis data, in December 2024, the global monthly settlement volume of stablecoins was about $5.1 trillion, which is three times that of the same period in 2023 and 22 times that of 2021; VanEck states that the current average daily settlement scale of stablecoins has reached around $100 billion, gradually approaching the size of traditional cross-border payment networks such as SWIFT.
The structure of on-chain transactions has also changed accordingly. According to Chainalysis data, stablecoin transaction volume accounts for 50%–75% of total on-chain transaction volume, making stablecoins the most important asset class on-chain.
This is why the public chain BenFen, which we invested in and incubated, we natively support stablecoin-as-gas, one-click token issuance, and on-chain merchant payment interfaces — because this is the most fundamental part of future demand.
Market Performance Shifts from "High Volatility" to "Steady Growth"
According to Bloomberg, in 2024–2025, the volatility of Bitcoin and Ethereum prices has significantly decreased, with Bitcoin’s two-year implied volatility falling to a biannual low; according to Coindesk, compliant stablecoin ecosystems such as Circle (USDC) rapidly expanded after policy benefits, with its stock price soaring more than tenfold after the announcement of new regulations. Capital flows have also become more rational: part of crypto capital is moving away from high-risk equities, shifting toward digital assets such as Bitcoin and stablecoins as a "safe-haven" allocation.
Further analysis by McKinsey shows that blockchain + stablecoin payments can shorten the traditional 2–3 day cross-border settlement cycle to seconds, greatly improving the payment experience. This change is reflected not only in market data but also in the shift of user demand.
In 2021, users were chasing wealth myths and excitement — a kind of almost "self-fulfilling" radical adventure: high-yield DeFi pools, the breakout myth of NFTs, and GameFi’s overnight riches. This stacked emotion shaped a crypto narrative colored by desire and speculation.
By 2025, however, such demand has quietly shifted toward "basic functions": payment convenience, asset security, and regulatory certainty. This shift coincides with the implementation of regulations, institutional entry, and the maturity of infrastructure. In McKinsey’s words, "The significance of blockchain + stablecoin payments is not speculation, but reducing 2–3 days of cross-border payments to just a few seconds."
This also raises a deeper question: against the backdrop of increasingly important risk control and stability, what is the true confidence behind digital currencies? Is it speculative enthusiasm, or that universally accepted sense of "order" that can be used in everyday life? Perhaps, when cryptocurrencies are re-understood as financial tools of "daily necessities" rather than tickets to overnight wealth, they will truly move toward maturity.
This resonates with the change in user demand: if in 2021 crypto users were chasing wealth myths and high-risk games, then in 2025, users value more the convenience of payments, asset hedging, and compliance safety. In other words, digital currencies are shifting from "radical adventure" back to "basic function," from satisfying curiosity to satisfying the need for security.
This shift may resemble an "industry coming-of-age ceremony": bidding farewell to barbaric growth and entering a construction cycle of institutionalization and steady growth.
The Way Forward for Projects: Returning to Product and Operations, with Rising Barriers to Success
Amid tightening regulation and shifting capital preferences, the greatest dilemma for projects is that old paths no longer work: it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise funds easily through "token issuance + narrative." The new path to survival is to benchmark traditional internet giants and return to product and operations. Success is no longer a matter of luck, but a contest of comprehensive strength.
First, track selection and alignment with user needs have become the key to success or failure. Just as Meituan focused on local lifestyle services and ByteDance dug deep into content and social, rising in their respective fields through outstanding execution, Web3 startups also need to identify the right niche market and consistently deliver excellent products.
For example, Ethereum, on the track of smart contract platforms, has continuously upgraded its network capabilities over the years (transitioning from PoW to PoS, advancing sharding, etc.), attracting a large number of developers and users, and ultimately consolidating its unshakable ecological position. In contrast, many so-called "Ethereum killers" once achieved high valuations, but quickly faded due to a lack of sustained technological breakthroughs and expansion of user scenarios.
Similarly, in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi), Uniswap was an early mover that satisfied the rigid demand for on-chain exchange, and by continuously improving its algorithms (upgrading to V3/V4 protocols, etc.), it maintained a competitive advantage and achieved far higher market share than its imitators. These cases show that projects without long-term product–market fit (PMF) will ultimately be eliminated by the market.
Second, user experience (UX) and infrastructure improvement have become crucial. Web3 products often involve complex concepts such as private key management and gas fees, which have been obstacles to mass adoption by ordinary users. Recently, however, the industry has seen numerous explorations to improve UX — such as smart contract wallets, account abstraction, and off-chain transaction acceleration — all aiming to make blockchain interaction as convenient as Web2 applications.
Teams that prioritize UX are undoubtedly more likely to capture mass users. For example, hyperliquid, which exploded in this bull cycle, benchmarked its UX against FTX’s trading-focused design, firmly grasping the needs of MM teams, asset management teams, and individual traders, thereby creating strong product stickiness. Therefore, project teams need to polish products with a user-centered approach, just like internet companies, in order to stand out in a crowded market.
(Image source: Internet; please delete if infringing)
Finally, and most importantly, the comprehensive threshold for Web3 entrepreneurship has risen significantly: capital, team, management, and strategic direction are all indispensable. In the past, perhaps a two- or three-person development group could raise hundreds of millions of dollars with just an idea and a token issuance. But now, investors are more rational, and users are more selective.
Entrepreneurial teams need sufficient capital reserves to survive the long R&D and customer acquisition cycle, since blockchain infrastructure and ecosystem development often burn slower and costlier than traditional internet ventures. They also need to attract top talent to build strong teams, not only in blockchain core development, but also in product design and market operations. At the same time, scientific management and governance structures are critical — many decentralized projects lack governance discipline, leading to inefficient internal decision-making and missed opportunities; conversely, some projects, through dual-layer governance (foundation + community) and by introducing experienced operations executives, have achieved more stable and efficient team operations.
Equally vital is a visionary leader to steer a clear strategic direction and adjust course in time with industry tides. As one accelerator mentor put it: "Fast-profit altcoin projects lack sustainable value. Entrepreneurs should focus on long-term vision, solving real problems, rather than chasing fleeting trends." Only by having the right direction, and continuously iterating and optimizing business based on market feedback, can projects expand their user base and revenue sources, and enter a virtuous growth cycle.
In summary, as the Web3 industry matures, entrepreneurship has returned to its commercial essence: there are no more shortcuts for "overtaking on curves." Success requires patiently refining products, continuously operating communities, adhering to compliance, and integrating resources.
In this process, the entrepreneurial teams that benchmark against traditional giants — combining innovative passion with pragmatic execution and business wisdom — are the ones most likely to win in increasingly fierce competition and capture meaningful market share. Today, the threshold for entrepreneurial success has risen sharply compared with a few years ago: this is both a challenge and a sign of the industry’s maturation.
The Web3 enterprises that truly stand out in the future will likely possess both the steady operational capabilities of traditional internet giants and the innovative tension brought by blockchain technology — writing their own legends in the new digital economy landscape.
Why the Project We Incubate Is Called BenFen
Amid the noisy and volatile industry cycles, Bixin Ventures has always been seeking infrastructure opportunities that can withstand cycles.
We clearly see that, as speculative narratives fade, stablecoin payments and compliant applications aligned with real-world usage scenarios are becoming the core incremental growth of Web3. What is truly lacking is not new tokens, but a foundational system that can accommodate all stablecoins and support real transactions.
In the Chinese context, BenFen (本分) means being steadfast, responsible, and long-term oriented. It is exactly the summary of our long-term investment logic in this industry: not chasing hot trends, but solidifying the foundation.
This is also the reason why we are incubating the BenFen public chain.
Why BenFen
As a long-term strategic project led by the Bixin team, BenFen is different from other chains on the market. Its mission has been very clear from day one: to build the next-generation stablecoin blockchain.
We chose to invest in and promote BenFen for three reasons:
Trend judgment: Stablecoins are transitioning from "exchange assets" to "payment and settlement assets," and the industry needs a public chain born specifically for stablecoins.
Team background: The core team has been deeply involved in blockchain for ten years, experiencing multiple bull and bear cycles, and possesses cross-disciplinary collaboration capabilities in technology, capital management, and compliance understanding.
Long-term path: BenFen does not chase short-term trends or token prices, but gradually builds an ecosystem around real scenarios such as payments, cross-border settlement, and RWAs.
Practical Directions of the "BenFen Way"
Concepts must be implemented in practice. The technology and product roadmap of the BenFen chain is designed around "long-term infrastructure capability," building a robust, universal, and sustainable on-chain financial foundation.
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High-performance execution environment: Sub-second confirmation speed and tens of thousands TPS to support high-frequency scenarios such as payments and trading.
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Stablecoins at the core: We believe stablecoins are the most sustainable interface between Web3 and the real world, serving as the foundational assets for rebuilding global payment and financial order.
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One-click issuance mechanism: Supports low-threshold smart contract issuance of regular tokens, stablecoins, and RWAs, lowering the barriers for entrepreneurs and builders.
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Stablecoin payment for Gas: Stablecoins can be used to pay Gas fees, reducing usage barriers and optimizing on-chain user experience.
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Native gas-free support (sponsored transaction mechanism): On-chain support for transaction fees sponsored by third parties allows users to complete transfers, swaps, and other operations without holding native tokens, significantly lowering the usage threshold for Web3 applications.
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Native cross-chain bridge + oracle + DEX: BenFen natively integrates cross-chain protocols, oracles, and a decentralized exchange (DEX), forming an integrated DeFi infrastructure. The cross-chain bridge supports multi-chain asset flows and liquidity between chains; the oracle provides verifiable off-chain data on-chain, ensuring reliable pricing for RWAs, exchange rates, and other critical scenarios; the DEX module (BenPay DEX) provides on-chain liquidity for stablecoins and mainstream assets, supporting real-world use cases like payments, lending, and asset allocation.
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Native privacy payment support: Exploring integration of zero-knowledge proofs and other privacy technologies to protect transaction amounts and recipient privacy on-chain, offering censorship resistance and financial anonymity while ensuring compliance.
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Social account one-click login system: Based on zkLogin, users can create wallets using Google/Apple accounts, achieving an "extension-free, mnemonic phrases-free" on-chain experience.
These capabilities collectively form BenFen’s core advantage: it is not about generating short-term growth, but gradually building long-term capabilities that can span cycles, continuously providing a stable and enduring foundation for the real-world adoption of stablecoins in lifestyle use cases.
The Choice of Bixin Ventures
As investors and incubators, we are fully aware that the noise in the industry has not yet completely subsided, but the future order is already clear: only by being steadfast and responsible (BenFen) can one achieve sustainability.
BenFen chooses to spend time on research, refinement, and construction, rather than chasing short-lived trends. This path may not be the fastest, but it will certainly go the furthest.
For Bixin Ventures, BenFen is not just a public chain — it is also our industry judgment and investment answer for the next decade.