Encryption Industry Trend Analysis

Recently, we conducted research on some active projects that have not yet undergone token generation activities (TGE), to explore the current development direction of cryptocurrency projects. By analyzing data from 43 Pre-TGE projects, we discovered some interesting trends and summarized the main directions and evolutionary trends of current encryption projects. Here are the 8 minor trends we summarized:

1. AI has become the hottest track

AI-related projects account for as much as 25.5%, with a total of 11 projects. These projects exhibit diversified development, mainly including three categories: AI-specific blockchains, decentralized AI(DeFi Agent), and AI infrastructure. Among them, AI-specific blockchain projects received the largest amount of funding and have the highest number. The top three projects in terms of funding amount are:

• An AI blockchain project raised $75M
• A self-evolving AI blockchain project, raised 32.5M in funding.
• A blockchain project built on AI and IP, financing 29M.

2. Layer 1 blockchain continues to be hot, showing trends of high performance and verticalization.

Layer 1 blockchain projects account for 23.2%, second only to AI projects. They are mainly divided into the following categories:

• High-performance Layer 1: 3 projects
• Layer1 customized for AI: 6 projects
• Dedicated data Layer1: 1 project

3. Full-chain applications become a new trend

Infrastructure and application projects on the entire chain account for 18.6%, with a total of 8 projects. These include a Web3 operating system that supports multi-chain deployment of dApps, a customized Rollup platform, and a one-stop multi-chain financial platform.

Four, the general Layer 2 decreases, vertical Layer 2 rises.

We have observed a significant decrease in the number of general Layer 2 projects, while vertical Layer 2 projects focused on specific areas have started to emerge, such as Layer 2 supporting EVM and SVM, and Layer 2 focused on the DeFi ecosystem.

Five, the number of Bitcoin ecological projects has decreased.

Bitcoin-related projects still exist, but their number has significantly decreased, with only 4 projects remaining, including Bitcoin ZK-Rollup and DeFi protocols that bring BTC to multi-chain.

6. ZK technology is still in the infrastructure and service stage.

The ZK track mainly focuses on the infrastructure and technical services sectors, with a total of 3 projects, including the general ZK protocol, ZK proof infrastructure, and so on.

7. Marginalization of Traditional Track Projects

The number of once-popular projects in GameFi, SocialFi, DID, Depin, and other fields has significantly decreased, showing a trend of marginalization. Among the surveyed projects, there are very few in these areas, reflecting the strong cyclicality of the encryption industry.

8. Financing hotspots are集中在Layer1, AI, and the entire chain.

The three projects with the highest financing amounts are:

• A high-performance Layer 1 blockchain project raised 224M.
• A dedicated AI blockchain project raised 75M.
• A one-stop multi-chain financial platform, raising 65.3M

These three projects basically represent the main development trends of current encryption projects.

Summary

By analyzing these Pre-TGE projects, we can see that both Layer 1 and Layer 2 show a trend towards verticalization, with significant funding concentrated in vertical Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects. AI blockchain has become the hottest track, and full-chain applications are becoming the mainstream trend for chains and applications. At the same time, many traditional tracks are gradually declining, and a new round of encryption cycle is forming. These trends reflect the current development direction of the encryption industry and the focal points of investor attention.