When a hundred flowers bloom: An overview of Mass Adoption progress in 2024

By Pzai, Foresight News

With the maturity of blockchain technology and the improvement of the compliance environment, 2024 has become a key turning point in the field of encryption, both at the market level and at the application level, marking the transition of this technology from early financial innovation to widespread commercial applications.

Globally, the development of the encryption field has shown a trend of diversification and in-depth development. It has not only made important breakthroughs in the financial field, but also shown great potential in multiple application-level fields. This year, we have witnessed the innovation and evolution of blockchain technology in asset and financial derivatives trading, as well as the crypto field’s transition from asset and application innovation to social, AI and even traditional Internet territory.

With Trump taking office and the influx of global capital, the cryptocurrency field is pursuing its own dawn in different ways and entering a more ambitious sea of ​​stars. This article briefly reviews the progress of Mass Adoption in the encryption field in 2024.

Polymarket: the "Colosseum" of all things in the world

This year's vigorous US election brought a spring breeze to the encryption field, and also brought the prediction market Polymarket to the center of the world stage. As a prediction market, the results of all things in the world are displayed in real time as the probability of yes or no on Polymarket, and the game of the market is fed back through real transactions time and time again.

For this election, it even played the role of a "prophet". In terms of poll distribution, its feedback is closer to the real election results than traditional media polls. Its success is not only reflected in its accurate prediction of election results, but more importantly, it demonstrates how decentralized prediction markets can become an efficient information aggregation tool.

On this platform, users can bet on the outcomes of various events without permission, and these betting behaviors themselves reflect the participants’ collective expectations for future events. As more people participate in such a market, the price mechanism can better reflect the likelihood of an event occurring, providing more comprehensive and timely data points than a single source can provide. The ease of use and flexibility of the platform itself have quickly attracted a large number of new users, especially among the younger generation and technology enthusiasts, and have gained wide recognition. According to relevant reports, the platform once ranked second on Apple’s free application rankings, second only to another prediction market application Kalshi, showing extremely high user participation.

As a concept favored by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, prediction markets have grown from a niche experimental project for blockchain technology geeks to an influential reference tool for public decision-making. As more and more people begin to realize the value of such platforms, Polymarket is expected to continue to expand its influence and explore more diversified application scenarios, such as financial derivatives, policy evaluation and other fields. In this "Colosseum", the game of viewpoints brings a different perspective on things to the world.

Farcaster and Onchain Summer: SocialFi’s positive attempts

As the "evergreen tree" and main "engine" of the Ethereum system, the Base ecosystem has attracted widespread attention since its release. Backed by Coinbase's ecological support and user base, coupled with the strong "Based" community atmosphere driven by Jesse Pollak and others, it has laid the foundation for the explosion of the Base ecology. And it is precisely because of the flourishing ecological atmosphere that it has created fertile ground for the large-scale adoption of Web3.

Last year, Friend.tech of the Base ecosystem once led the frenzied trend of SocialFi. A large number of KOLs interacted with users within the protocol, and many users made huge profits. However, due to factors such as the issuance problems of its token economy and the slowdown in user growth, , Friend.tech gradually lost market focus. In contrast, the decentralized social protocol Farcaster has successfully attracted the attention and support of a large number of users by building a more open, inclusive and dynamic community ecosystem. Since opening registration in October last year, Farcaster has successfully become a social protocol with an average of 40,000 monthly active users, and has achieved a certain scale effect.

Compared with other applications, Farcaster is unique in that it is not just a single social application, but plays more of a protocol layer, allowing users to fully control their own data and social graphs, and freely move between different applications. Migration, different developers can also create diverse front-end applications and services based on various APIs and frameworks. For example, Warpcast, as a primary client, provides a Twitter-like user experience.

In addition, frameworks such as Farcaster Frames allow users to directly interact with on-chain applications and perform multiple operations on a single Cast front end, such as games, NFT casting, article subscription services, etc., which create more opportunities for users to participate in on-chain applications. And its unique community culture has also spawned community projects such as DEGEN and HIGHER, which gradually build community attention through the token reward mechanism while increasing the influence of the Base chain itself.

Farcaster has developed a vibrant and growing community as more well-known figures, such as Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, join the community. For users, the new on-chain social paradigm combines the ease of use of traditional social applications with the flexibility of the on-chain economic system, and provides users with more convenient interactions with the development of applications such as AI Agents.

At the same time, Onchain Summer, a global online hackathon event held on the Base chain, has also become a highlight in the first half of the year. It aims to attract developers, artists, brands and creators to participate in the Base chain through a series of incentives. On the activity. This event not only attracted more than 7,500 developers to submit more than 1,250 projects, but also demonstrated the broad application possibilities of Web3 technology in payment, commerce, creator tools and other fields. An interesting fact is that you can now buy your coffee using USDC at 49 coffee shops around the world (you can even pay without miner fees on Coinbase Wallet).

AI Agent: A new paradigm in the cyber world

As an important part of human cyber future, AI Agent is emerging as a new form of economic actor - which not only changes the face of technology, but also profoundly affects the way humans interact in new systems. When AI gradually integrates into daily life with cybernetic characters that are closer and closer to human characteristics, cryptocurrency exists as the economic layer and protocol interaction layer of the Agent.

Imagine that in the future we can have cyber symbiosis with AI, and the token economy will become the key medium of interaction. For example, in the Base chain, AI Agents are being seamlessly embedded into the ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps) and reshaping cryptographic rules through activities on these platforms.

Virtual Protocol is a protocol built on the Base chain, aiming to build an ownership layer for AI Agents in the gaming and entertainment fields and promote the development of agents through tokenization channels. The highlight of this protocol is that it is not just a simple token issuance platform, but attempts to create an economic system that can be self-sustaining and continuously add value.

Aethernet, the first AI Agent created by Martin, a member of the HIGHER community in Farcaster, issued NFT on Zora and received significant creator incentives. As a bridge between human creativity and digital possibilities, Aethernet not only actively participates in on-chain activities, but also promotes economic behavior in social relationships and brings valuable positive emotions.

As the infrastructure of AI Agents improves, and as more and more developers begin to pay attention to the unique role that AI can play in cryptoeconomic systems, AI will be expected to truly synchronize time with the real world, perceive real water temperature, and Continuously make realistic iterations towards AGI. From this, the real backlash from the crypto world to the real world will come soon.

DeSci: Transforming scientific research with decentralization

In the field of scientific research, DeSci (decentralized science) is gaining more and more attention as an emerging concept. It refers to the use of Web3 technology and distributed ledgers to build a secure, durable and transparent scientific research recording system. In this way, scientists can better protect intellectual property rights, promote open collaboration, and ensure the authenticity and traceability of research results. According to predictions by crypto agency Spartan, DeSci will gain more attention in 2024 and become a powerful use case for blockchain. This is because DeSci not only solves the data silo problem existing in the traditional scientific research process, but also provides new possibilities for knowledge sharing on a global scale.

The representative Molecule DAO has provided practical support for dozens of biomedical projects, and most of these projects have reached the stage of patent realization or Series A financing. Under this concept, BIO Protocol and VitaDAO ( It is a platform for researchers in niche fields such as providing funding for longevity-related biological researchers) and PsyDAO (psychiatric drug research and development, etc.).

Specifically, DeSci uses the autonomous nature of DAO to track the progress of each research project, including all aspects of experimental design, data analysis, and final publication. This not only helps to improve the transparency of the entire scientific research process, but also effectively prevents the occurrence of academic misconduct.

At the same time, with the help of smart contract mechanisms, researchers can issue fundraising and collaboration processes without permission, thereby simplifying cross-institutional collaboration processes. More importantly, DeSci platforms typically adopt a token economic model to incentivize participants to contribute high-quality content and services, thereby forming a self-sustaining and growing ecosystem. This also proves that DeSci itself, as a reflection of sustainability in the encryption field, provides sufficient soil for scientific progress.

TON Mini Program: A new attempt to lower entry barriers

If we can find the focus with the largest angle in the communication between the encryption field and the traditional field, then Telegram (TON) is most likely to become this focus. Imagine that you can access on-chain and off-chain services through a variety of convenient front-end and bot operations in one application. As of the end of May 2024, the number of monthly active users (MAU) of Telegram Mini Apps has reached 400 million, and increased to 500 million in July. More than half of Telegram users are actively involved in the encryption field.

The explosion of countless small programs this year has brought many people the dawn of reaching countless users through social platforms, and in terms of user use, some applications are also entering from different ecological niches. Singapore's TADA is a typical example of how existing communication platform capabilities can be leveraged to achieve a seamless connection between online communication and offline services.

As a taxi-hailing service platform, TADA not only provides competitive price advantages, but more importantly, it successfully simplifies the payment process and allows users to complete transactions through various cryptocurrencies directly within Telegram. This innovation not only revolutionizes the traditional travel mode, but also provides a successful example for the actual implementation of Web3 application scenarios. For the industry, TADA’s case shows that when the right technology and business model are combined, it can effectively drive more people to accept and use DeFi services.

Notcoin is a simple airdrop applet based on Telegram. It has quickly accumulated a lot of popularity since its launch in early 2024. The game has attracted millions of players through simple mechanisms, while introducing a token economic model to encourage users to participate and obtain rewards through airdrops and other methods. As time goes by, some users begin to explore deeper functions in TON, such as investing in DeFi products or participating in other forms of on-chain activities. Notcoin’s success proves that new users can be effectively introduced into the complex world of crypto through fun and instant feedback mechanisms. In terms of customer acquisition strategy, TON has also successfully achieved a closed loop of "click-to-earn traffic - token airdrop - user conversion to DeFi applications" through its "mini program".

RWA: "Integration" on and off the chain

The interoperability of assets on and off the chain has been one of the encryption "pain points" that many projects have studied for many cycles. With the loose compliance environment, the future of RWA (real world assets) is unfolding for us. According to Bitwise statistics, the total RWA assets in the global market have exceeded US$12.5 billion, including most private credit and treasury bond-related derivatives.

For on-chain users, the accessibility of off-chain asset returns is gradually becoming an important part of the entire economic system, and when Sky moved from DAI to USDS, it was well prepared in the field of RWA (Spark’s introduction of RWA provided Sky with Having gained some experience), we have found considerable off-chain income opportunities for funds in the crypto field.

Stablecoins such as Usual and Anzen, which focus on RWA-based income, have also launched TGE in recent days, reflecting the market's strong enthusiasm for RWA income opportunities. Among them, Usual integrates the liquidity of platforms such as Hashnote with the liquidity of general stablecoins, and provides holders with flexible income through USD0 and Bond models, while Anzen Finance uses a private placement credit asset portfolio as collateral to provide diversified income sources. .

Recently, the crypto MiCA bill passed in Europe has accelerated the progress of regional stablecoin and crypto custody compliance. Trump's coming to power has also provided imagination space for the future of on-chain issuance of off-chain assets. With the acceleration of encryption compliance in major regions, and as large capitals such as BlackRock and Citigroup gradually enter the RWA track, it is believed that the RWA track will provide diversified choices for encryption users in the near future.

Conclusion

In 2024, the encryption field ushered in a prosperous scene of hundreds of flowers blooming. This year is not only a critical moment for technological progress, but also an important turning point for countless projects in the encryption field from concept to reality. With the increasing maturity of blockchain technology and the gradual improvement of the compliance environment, we have witnessed the widespread acceptance and in-depth development of cryptocurrencies and related applications around the world.

When a hundred flowers bloom and compete for beauty, it is even more important to set sail and set sail. We hope that in the near future, we can see that many people can own encrypted wallets and participate in different economic activities on the chain, and even live in peace with AI in the cyber society and build harmonious interpersonal relationships.