The Twilight of Native Crypto

How native crypto has lost its way ------ Regulatory capture, the hegemony of stablecoins, and the rise of the attention economy.

Written by: Zeke

Compiled by: Baihua Blockchain

I. Bowing to Compliance

How did the crypto industry move from the margins to the mainstream? Over the past decade, decentralized blockchain systems have provided a regulatory wilderness for the world. Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system may not have fully materialized as expected, but it opened a door to a parallel world. In this world, laws, governments, societies, and even religions cannot exert control ------ an internet that exists above countless nodes, transcending centralized control.

Being outside of regulation can be said to be the core driving force behind the early success of the industry. From the ICO boom and its countless derivatives to the DeFi explosion ignited by UNI, and now the rise of so-called stablecoins and other super applications ------ every significant milestone is rooted in the ability to break free from the complex constraints of traditional finance. Eliminating the red tape of TradFi is at the heart of shaping today's crypto industry.

But ironically: just as the Age of Exploration chose to abandon ship and return to port after failing to discover new lands, the crypto world seems to be retracing its steps. The turning point may have been the approval of the Bitcoin ETF or Trump's return to the center of power. In any case, the purest form of the crypto era seems to be coming to an end. The entire industry is scrambling to chase compliance, striving to meet the demands of traditional finance. Stablecoins, RWA, and payment scenarios have become the new mainstream. Beyond that, what remains is merely the issuance of pure assets ------ a picture, a story, a contract address, these have become our only remaining talking points. The term